CHESNUT HILL, Mass. – Thanks to a five-goal second period, the top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team earned a 7-0 win against Boston College on Saturday evening at Conte Forum.Â
Lacey Eden scored twice for the Badgers (4-0-0) while Caroline Harvey, Cassie Hall, Kirsten Simms, Casey O'Brien and Sarah Wozniewicz all added goals to lead UW to the sweep over the Eagles (1-2-0).
The Badgers took a 1-0 lead in the first period as a saved shot from Cassie Hall bounced to alternate captain Lacey Eden to one-time into the back of the net.
Wisconsin scored a combined five goals in the second period. Harvey opened the second period scoring on a blue-line snipe on the power play. Eden scored her second of the night to follow.
Cassie Hall added a goal to her earlier assist on the night's first goal. Simms scored the fourth of the period and fifth in the game, with assists from
Casey O'Brien and
Katie Kotlowski.
O'Brien scored a goal of her own in the final seconds of the second period to send the Badgers into the second intermission up 6-0.
Wozniewicz added her second goal of the season with less than five minutes remaining to cap off the scoring for Wisconsin.
Ava McNaughton made 13 saves in net to earn her first shutout of the season and the sixth of her career
Notes of the Game
- With the primary assist on Simms' goal, O'Brien became the seventh Badger in school history to record 200 career points. She is six points away from passing Annie Pankowski for sixth in school history. O'Brien also has 125 career assists which ranks fourth in the UW record books.Â
- Wisconsin outshot Boston College 61-13 and has outshot opponents 219-55 this season.
-
Caroline Harvey moved into 10th in school history in career scoring by a defender as the junior now has 82 career points, passing Olympians Carla MacLeod and Meaghan Mikkelson who both had 81 points as blueliners.Â
- With Saturday's win, Bob and Mark Johnson have 1,000 combined victories with the Badgers. Bob had 367 with men's hockey, and Mark earned win number 633 on the UW women's hockey bench on Saturday.
Straight from the Rink
UW head coach Mark Johnson
On the strong second period:
"Out of the four games we've played now, I thought, especially the second period, was our best period."
On the upcoming conference-opening matchup against Minnesota Duluth:
"We've got four decent games to get our feet wet and to get our freshmen and young players organized, and now we get to the battle, so it will be a good test. UMD has a good goaltender and three big wins, two against Ohio State and one against Colgate, So it should be a good series — we're looking forward to it."
Senior Forward Casey O'Brien
On becoming the seventh Badger with 200 career points:
"I know there's a lot of legends on that list, so I'm honored to be a part of it, and I think it's just a testament to how great our team has been on my linemates and how well we've moved the puck together."
On coming home to play in front of friends and family:
"It was really special for me just to be able to be in front of all of them, especially when Wisconsin is a little bit far away."
On the upcoming matchup against Minnesota Duluth:
"I think we're expecting them to come out and give us their best, so we can't take anyone lightly.Â
We got to come in playing our best, be ready to go. I think we have the advantage with the best fans in college hockey at LaBahn Arena."
Sophomore Ava McNaughton
On earning the shutout:
"I thought it was a good team effort. It's nice to have [to only face] 10 shots, it makes your night pretty easy. It's nice to get a couple of saves — big saves there in the beginning — but we really picked it up, and they really helped me out there." Â
Up Next: No. 1 Wisconsin will return home to face No. 3 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday and Sunday at LaBahn Arena. Both games are slated for 2 p.m. starts and both games are sold out. Fans can watch the action on B1G+ or listen to the games on 1070 The Game.
