MANKATO, Minn. – A spectacular second-period performance lifted the top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team to a 2-1 win over Minnesota State on Friday night at the Verizon Center.

Brette Pettet and Britta Curl both scored in the middle stanza, which was enough for the Badgers (10-1-0, 4-1-0-0 WCHA) to gain their 22nd-straight win against the Mavericks (4-4-1, 2-4-1-1 WCHA).

After a scoreless opening frame, the UW offense came to life in the second with a pair of goals.

Pettet put the Badgers on the board with a power-play goal a minute into the period, launching a bouncing puck into the MSU net.  

Midway through the period, Curl scored her second in as many games, converting a Sophie Shirley rebound to give UW a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes.

Minnesota State answered in the final period on a rush to make it a 2-1 game, but the Badgers' defense stiffened in the final 10 minutes to hold onto the win.

Three Notes to Know

• UW outshot Minnesota State 34-17 and had a 14-3 advantage during the second period.
• Wisconsin is the first team in the NCAA this year to reach double-digit wins.
• Mekenzie Steffen assisted on both goals and now has two goals and six assists on the season. Her eight points are tied for the most in the WCHA by a defenseman.

Play of the Game
UW's penalty kill was solid all game, going a perfect 4-for-4, but came up clutch in the final period. Up 2-1 with just over five minutes to go, UW had to kill off a penalty and thwarted several Maverick chances a player down.

Straight from the rink
UW head coach Mark Johnson
On the overall game:
"I thought the entire game, other than 3-4 minutes of the third period, we really played well. Obviously we got different matchups with different line combinations with some kids missing, but I thought our energy was good and certainly getting the power-play goal in the second period let us play very strong and created a bunch of opportunities. I was very happy with the overall effort."

On UW's penalty kill:
"Well we were good in some areas, our face-offs were just okay, but I thought especially in the second period Britta Curl had three blocked shots on the penalty kill.  If you have kids willing to do that, it certainly helps in that area."

On what to expect in the series finale:
"It'll be the same type of game tomorrow as today. You've got to capitalize on your opportunities, that's what we'll be looking for but I'm hoping we have the same energy and the same jump in our stride. If we are able to do that we should be able to create some things."

Junior defenseman Mekenzie Steffen
On the overall game:
"I think our compete level was really high. Before the game, Coach Johnson talked about competing hard and winning a lot of the 50-50 battles. I thought we capitalized on that really well, leading to us to getting a lot of time in their zone."

On Saturday's series finale:
"If we play like we did in the second period, I think we will be really successful tomorrow."

Freshman forward Britta Curl
On outshooting Minnesota State:
"I thought we forechecked hard and didn't give them a lot of time with the puck so we got a lot of time in the offensive zone."

On what's clicking with her line:
"I think we just do a good job of getting open and we get support when we're on the puck so it's easy to play with."

Up Next
The Badgers and Mavericks wrap up their series with a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday. The game, which is UW's final game before a bye weekend Nov. 9-10, can be seen live on Fox Sports North Plus.