ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Sophomore Sam Cogan scored two of the three goals in the third period that helped lift the top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team past St. Cloud State, 4-2, on Saturday afternoon at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

The Badgers (2-0-0, 2-0-0-0 WCHA) dominated play against the Huskies (0-2-0, 0-2-0-0 WCHA), outshooting SCSU, 56-13.

Still, UW faced a 2-1 deficit with 10 minutes remaining in the game until the Badger offense came to life and scored three goals in an eight-minute span to fuel the comeback and a sweep of St. Cloud State.

"I like the way we responded after being down," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "I thought the third period was the best period of the six that we played this weekend. We came out and we took the game to another level, competed real hard, created a lot of opportunities and it took a lot of opportunities to get a few goals today."

"I think we showed that we are a team that doesn't give up," Cogan said of the third-period rally.  "We don't give up, no matter what happens. If we're down a goal, we just keep playing our hardest."

Senior defenseman Jenny Ryan tied the game at two goals apiece midway through the final frame, launching a rocket in the net from the point on Wisconsin's third power play of the game.

Four minutes later, Cogan took a feed from Emily Clark and slammed the puck home, giving UW its first lead.

"I have to give credit to my linemates, Annie (Pankowski) and Clark," Cogan said. "They were passing it behind the goal and they fed me right in the slot. I was in the right place at the right time and I was happy to contribute."

Cogan put the game out of reach for St. Cloud with 50 seconds remaining, scoring an empty-net goal to give the Badgers their 4-2 victory.

Senior goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens made 11 saves to earn her second win of the year and her 72nd career triumph. The La Malbaie, Quebec, native needs only four wins to move into third in program history.

Cogan ended the game with two points thanks to her two goals, while Annie Pankowski tallied a game-high two assists. Pankowski now has 103 career points and needs only a point to move into a tie for 20th on the school's all-time list.

Sophomore Sophia Shaver got things going for Wisconsin in the first period after the Badgers fell behind 1-0 thanks to a goal by SCSU's Hannah Potrykus.

Shaver and Baylee Wellhausen led UW on a 2-on-1 and Shaver fired the puck into the top corner of the net to tie the game at 1-1. It marked Shaver's second goal of the weekend.

Wisconsin dominated the first frame, outshooting St. Cloud State 21-3.

The Badgers found themselves down 2-1 after two periods after Julia Tylke scored on a St. Cloud State power play with 24 seconds remaining in the second frame before UW scored three times in the third.

"The first weekend you can always find little things that you can improve on," Ryan said. "Just having a new team together, we found little holes in our training that we need to work on. We just need to bring those things back to practice and keep working hard."

Wisconsin enjoys a bye week before hosting its home opener against Ohio State, Oct. 7-8. Faceoff on Oct. 7 is set for 7 p.m. CT, while the series finale on Oct. 8 starts at 1 p.m.