MADISON, Wis. – Thanks to a balanced attack, the No. 5 Wisconsin women's hockey team blitzed St. Thomas, 9-1, on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd at LaBahn Arena.

Nicole LaMantia paced the UW (5-1-0, 2-0-0-0-0-0-0 WCHA) attack with a pair of goals, while Laila Edwards, Sarah Wozniewicz, Caroline Harvey, Maddi Wheeler, Jesse Compher, Britta Curl and Casey O'Brien all potted goals against the Tommies (0-2-0, 0-2-0-0-0-0 WCHA). 

Laila Edwards got things going for the Badgers with a laser from the slot, lifting UW to a 1-0 advantage.

Minutes later, Wozniewicz tacked on her second goal of the weekend to double the lead before Harvey tallied her first as a Badger thanks to a rocket from the blue line. 

LaMantia scored her second of the year, firing home a rebound lifting UW to a 4-0 advantage after 20 minutes.

St. Thomas scored their first of the weekend on the power play early in the second period, but the Badgers countered back as Wheeler scored from the slot, giving UW a 5-1 advantage. 

UW added three more goals in the second period in a four-minute span, starting with Compher's 50th career goal. Two minutes later, LaMantia scored on a rush before Curl tallied a power-play strike on a 5-on-3 power play to cap off the scoring in the middle frame. 

O'Brien topped off the scoring for the Badgers with a shorthanded goal with 3:12 left in the game to make it 9-1 Wisconsin. 

Three Notes to Know:
Jane Gervais made 17 saves to pick up her third win of the year and her fourth career triumph. 
The Badgers have outscored opponents 40-6 so far this season.
With her three-point night, LaMantia moved into a tie for sixth place in school history for defender scoring with 85 career points. The alternate captain is tied with Mekenzie Steffen, Molly Engstrom and Jenny Ryan on the school's all-time list. 

Straight from the Rink
UW Head Coach Mark Johnson
On the great start to the game:
"The object tonight, like I said last night, was to get off to a good start and Laila comes down and takes a slap shot and then Woz makes a nice shot in the same spot that Laila put it in. I was happy for Woz, scored in both games and those types of things continue to give those kids chances because they are more comfortable and they have more confidence. They are moving quite well on the ice."

Senior Defender Nicole LaMantia
On the team's success ever since the loss against Penn State:
"I think that taught us a lot about our team. It was a lot of growth for our young girls and also growth for the people that had a year off of college hockey, but it shows that we're a team that's ready to compete and we're hungry and we're here to win." 

Sophomore Sarah Wozniewicz
On the team dominating the offensive zone this series:
"Playing in the offensive zone brings a lot of excitement to us, that's where we want to be, so we all get extra excited when we get on the ice and we're in the offensive zone already."

Up Next: 
UW hits the road to take on St. Cloud State next weekend in the Granite City. Puck drop on Friday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center is at 6 p.m. while Saturday's contest begins at 3 p.m.