Grand Forks, N.D. - Sarah Nurse has enjoyed nine multi-goal games in her career, but never a three-goal effort. That all changed on Sunday at Ralph Engelstad Arena as Nurse scored four goals to lead the top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team to a 5-2 victory over North Dakota.

Nurse has long been an offensive catalyst for Wisconsin when playing North Dakota, and Sunday proved no different as the Hamilton, Ontario, native netted her first career hat trick and recorded her 10th career two-goal game.

Nurse became the first Wisconsin (7-0-1, 5-0-1-1 WCHA) player to score four goals in a game since Brooke Ammerman scored four times against Minnesota State on Feb. 24, 2012. The UW senior now has 12 career goals against the Fighting Hawks (4-3-1, 3-3-0-0 WCHA). 

"You don't see somebody score four goals very often in a game," said head coach Mark Johnson. "She's been a good player for us for over three years, and she came up big today when we needed somebody to step up."

Nurse put the Badgers on the board early in the game as she intercepted the puck in the slot just minutes into the contest, shooting it into the top left corner. 

As the first period wound down, Nurse struck again after a shot by her freshman linemate Presley Norby hit the post and the rebound bounced right onto Nurse's stick. With UND netminder Lexie Shaw out of position, Nurse fired the puck home for her second of the game.

After allowing a goal to UND's Jordan Hampton on a rush, the Badgers regained their two-goal advantage thanks to a goal from junior defenseman Lauren Williams with three minutes remaining in the second. Williams took a feed from Norby across the high slot and beat Shaw over the shoulder to give UW its insurance goal. 

Nurse completed her hat trick just thirty seconds into the third period, tipping in a shot from senior Sydney McKibbon. 

"Her line played very well," said Johnson of Nurse's performance with Norby and McKibbon. "Whenever they play together they seem to create some chemistry. They were certainly the difference makers in today's game." 

North Dakota found their way onto the scoresheet once more, however, after Kayla Gardner capitalized on a Wisconsin miscommunication below the goal line. Gardner gave teammate Rebekah Kolstad a centering pass in front of the net, Kolstad then brought the Fighting Hawks within two.

The Badgers were able to hold off the Fighting Hawks, and Nurse recorded her fourth goal of the game after scoring on an empty UND net. Nurse now leads Wisconsin with eight goals this season.

"That was just a really complete effort by the whole team," said Nurse. "Out of all the weekends that we've played so far, that was a full weekend. We played a really complete game and came out fast, I think we ended it on a really good note."

Senior goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 12 of the 14 shots she faced to earn her seventh win of the season. Among other accomplishments, Norby collected four assists in the victory and now paces the Badgers with eight total assists.

Wisconsin wraps up its six-game road swing next weekend, as it heads to Mankato to take on Minnesota State. The Badgers and Mavericks will meet on Friday and Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT).