BOSTON— The fifth-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team charged past No. 10 Clarkson, 3-1, on Thursday night at Matthews Arena in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship to advance to the round of eight on Saturday.
 
The Badgers (26-7-4) scored in each period to earn their second-straight win over the Golden Knights (22-13-3). Wisconsin saw goals from Delaney Drake, Daryl Watts and Maddi Wheeler in the tournament tilt. 

Wheeler put up a goal in the first period, sneaking the puck past Clarkson netminder Amanda Zeglen to get the Badgers not only on the board, but a 1-0 lead after the first.

Watts doubled the UW advantage on a power play, as Nicole LaMantia found a wide-open Watts backdoor where the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top-10 finalist scored her 28th of the year. 

In the third, the Badgers found themselves on a 5-on-3 penalty kill for 1:12, but were able to stop the Golden Knights power play and maintain a two-goal lead.

Clarkson was able to cut Wisconsin's lead in half with just two minutes left in the game and pulled its goalie in an attempt to tie the game.

Drake capped the game off with an empty-net goal to give the Badgers a 3-1 lead and seal the victory.

Netminder Kennedy Blair made 30 saves to earn her 23rd win of the year. 

Three Notes of the Game
- UW set a season high in blocked shots with 25. Grace Bowlby and Katie Kotlowski led the team with five blocks each.
- Daryl Watts added another point to her career total with a goal in the second period. She is now at 297 points, just six points shy of matching the NCAA record for career points.
- The Badgers killed all five Clarkson power plays and paces the NCAA in penalty killing at a .938 clip. 

Straight from the Rink
Head Coach Mark Johnson
On the game overall:
"It was an interesting game all the way to the end. I'm happy with the way our team played and I'm excited about winning the game. It gives us an opportunity to play another game and we look forward to Saturday's challenge that's ahead of us."

On adjusting:
"We play the game and then depending on what's happening in the game, you make adjustments. You try to play being disciplined, and situations and adversity come in every game for both teams and it's how you handle it."

Senior defender Grace Bowlby
On the team's blocks:
"I think every game you go in and you want to do the little things right. Part of those little things is blocking shots and I think we blocked so many because we did not only a great job not only pushing them to the outside, but getting in shooting lanes and taking away options."

On Kennedy Blair:
"I think the whole game she was huge for us, she stopped some huge plays that helped us keep the momentum."

Senior forward Brette Pettet
On getting on the board first:
"It's always good to get the first goal in the game and set the tone. It was definitely good to go in after the first period with a little bit of confidence."

On the keys to success in the postseason:
"This time of the year, it's just making sure the little things are done right as Grace said. Whether it was blocking shots or just getting the puck in deep, we found ways to celebrate those things and that just kind of gets the energy going."

Up Next:
Wisconsin will face third-seeded Northeastern in a rematch of last year's NCAA championship game for the quarterfinal on Saturday. Puck drop is set for Noon CT at Matthews Arena in Boston. The game can be heard live on 100.9 FM and can be seen for free on Sports Live.