DULUTH, Minn. – It was the
Sophia Shaver show in the third period on Saturday as the junior scored twice in a five-minute span to lift the No. 2 Wisconsin women's hockey team to a 3-3 tie against Minnesota Duluth at AMSOIL Arena.
UW (27-3-2, 18-2-2-2 WCHA) found itself in unfamiliar territory, down 1-0 in the first period after giving up a power-play goal to UMD (12-14-5, 8-11-2-2 WCHA).
Early in the second period, Minnesota Duluth doubled its lead before
Claudia Kepler found the back of the net to make it a 2-1 game.
However, the Bulldogs went up 3-1, a lead they would have heading into the final period.
The third period was a different story for UW, as UW scored twice on the power play. Shaver scored UW's first power-play goal since Jan. 19 to make it a one-goal game with 18 minutes to go in the third.
Following a five-minute major being handed to Jayln Elmes, Shaver scored again on the power play to tie the game at 3-3 with just over 13 minutes left in the frame.
After a scoreless overtime,
Sam Cogan scored in the fourth round of the shootout to take the extra point in the WCHA standings.
Three Notes of the Game
- Kepler scored her team-leading 18th goal of the season off a feed from sophomore Presley Norby. Kepler's 18 goals this year rank No. 2 in the WCHA.
- For the second time this year, Shaver scored multiple goals in a game and now has three career multi-goal games.
- It marked the first time since Jan. 13 that UW scored two power-play goals in the same game and the fifth time this year.
Play of the Game
Sam Cogan gave UW its second shootout win of the year, flipping the puck past UMD netminder Jessica Convery in the fourth round.
Straight from the Rink
UW head coach Mark Johnson
On Saturday's game:
"With the way the league was wrapped up yesterday, it's just fun to win. We were down 3-1 going into the third period. So we talked about trying to get one to get ourselves back in it. We were able to get a couple power-play goals which is a positive for us. We found a way to tie the game, and we ended up winning a shootout, so we walk out of the building feeling pretty good about ourselves."
Junior Sophia Shaver
On the comeback:
"We've been there before this season, so we knew that we needed to stay positive and start getting a lot of shots to the net. We were comfortable with being in that position. Thankfully, we got those two back."
On scoring two power-play goals:
"It's nice for our power play to finally get rewarded. We've been practicing it a lot in practice and looking for new opportunities. We're really happy that we got a couple this weekend."
On the weekend:
"It's a really good response especially from last weekend losing both games and then coming back and being able to shut down a really good UMD team."
Senior Claudia Kepler
On the comeback:
It's definitely a good character builder. It shows that even when we were down two goals going into the third period, we could stay positive and work our way back to tie it up and then win in a shootout. I'm really proud to see us do that."
On leaving Duluth with five points:
"It's big, especially at this time of year. Like coach says, from this point on it's going to be playoff hockey. We're starting to get into that mode. Each time we get scored on or each time we score a goal, we learn from it and we're going to carry it into the next game."
Up Next
Wisconsin heads home to the comforts of LaBahn Arena to host Minnesota next weekend. Puck drop on Friday is set for 7 p.m. while Saturday's contest, which will serve as Senior Day for UW, starts at 3 p.m. Friday's game can be seen on Fox Sports Wisconsin while both games can be heard on 1310 WIBA as Reid Magnum and
Mark Greenhalgh have the call.
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