MADISON, Wis. – The fifth-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team earned their first WCHA triumph of the season, blanking St. Thomas, 5-0, on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd at LaBahn Arena. 

Grace Shirley, Sarah Wozniewicz, Kirsten Simms and Claire Enright each scored for the Badgers (4-1-0, 1-0-0-0-0-0 WCHA), with Shirley tallying two of the five goals scored. 

Grace Shirley got the Badgers on the board just 2:51 into the game with her first of the season.

Wozniewicz doubled the Badger advantage five minutes later with her first goal of the campaign to give UW a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.

In the second, Simms recorded her third tally of the year, beating St. Thomas (0-1-0, 0-1-0-0-0-0 WCHA) Olympian netminder Saskia Maurer with a beautiful backhand goal. 

Claire Enright tallied her first goal as a Badger and the fourth of the night for Wisconsin before Grace Shirley extended the lead to 5-0 with 6:48 left in the game. It marked her first two-goal game since February 13, 2021 and a career-high for points with three. 

Three Notes of the Game
-Cami Kronish made nine saves to earn her second straight shutout at LaBahn Arena and her second win of the season.
-The Badgers outshot St. Thomas 43-9, marking the fourth-straight game that UW has recorded 40+ shots on net. UW also recorded five goals in its fourth-straight contest. 
-The Badgers improved to 147-16-10 all-time at LaBahn Arena and earned their first-ever home win against the Tommies. 

Straight From The Rink
UW Head Coach Mark Johnson
On the overall game:
"There are going to be some games where you are not getting breaks every shot you take,  the goalie makes a save or you miss the net. Tonight we missed the net early on quite a bit. It is a learning opportunity and still young and time in the season. I am anxious see how we come out in the first ten minutes tomorrow and I am interested in how we respond"

On the fourth line:
"It is nice to see them get opportunities and create chances and they resulted in goals. Their line scored three goals tonight so they are smiling and happy and should give them some confidence."

Senior Grace Shirley
On scoring and clicking with teammates:
"It's always a nice feeling scoring. I think in terms of confidence, it's always super nice. I definitely think the biggest thing is getting the win and getting more familiar with my line-mates… As we've gotten more familiar we've been getting better, so I feel like it's only going to go up from here." 

Freshman Kirsten Simms
On what worked today as a team:
"As third and fourth line, we just want to bring the energy to the ice and do whatever we can to keep pucks deep, keep pushing possession, work hard and get those gritty goals when needed. Today it worked and we're happy it happened."

Up Next: 
UW wraps up its home stand against St. Thomas with a 6 p.m. contest on Saturday. Tickets are still available on UWBadgers.com