MADISON, Wis. – The No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey shut out the Maine Black Bears, 5-0 during its home opener on Friday, earning its third straight win of the season . 

Badgers fans sold out LaBahn to see the 2024-25 Wisconsin hockey team reunite and watch the 2025 National Championship banner be revealed. 

With 10 minutes remaining in the first, the Badgers had won eight face-offs, but neither team had found the back of the net. 

The Badgers went on the power play with 1:39 left in the first after a slashing penalty broke up Kelly Gorbatenko's shot at a breakaway goal. While Wisconsin was on the power play, the Badgers put up seven shots in less than a minute of play.

As the second period opened, the Badgers had tripled the Black Bear's shots on goal, 21-7. 

Alternate captain Laila Edwards finally put the Badgers on the board five minutes into the period, netting her first goal of the season while playing on the blueline.

Nearly half way through the second period of play, Cassie Hall found the puck from senior Kirsten Simms and tallied the second goal for the Badgers. 

Ava McNaughton stayed behind the net for all 60 minutes of the game, saving 24 shots from the Black Bears and collecting her second straight shutout of the season

Early into the third period, freshman Adéla Šapovalivová received the puck from Lacey Eden and stick-handled her way into her second goal in two games.

Šapovalivová and Eden stayed hot, assisting senior Vivian Jungels in scoring her first goal of the season, the fourth for the Badgers during the game. 

Edwards then scored again with 6:02 remaining in the third. Edwards' goal was assisted by her fellow captain Marriane Picard and Kirsten Simms - it was Simms' third assist of the night.

Notes of the Game

• Cassie Hall scored her third goal of the season, she has now put up a goal in each game of the season so far.
• Laila Edwards put up two goals in the game, her 14th multi-goal game of the season and the first of this season.
• Ava McNaughton has now recorded back-to-back shutouts in her last two games - going 37-for-37 on save opportunities. The last time McNaughton pulled off that feat was last season against Minnesota State and Ohio State on Dec. 7 and Jan. 2. McNaughton now has 1,310 career saves, surpassing Meghan Horras for the sixth most in school history

Straight from the Rink 
UW Head Coach Mark Johnson
On the first period: 

"I was hoping we'd maybe create some more opportunities in the first 8-10 minutes, maybe get fortunate enough to score a goal to get the growth really into it early, but I have to give them credit. They were well prepared, battled, played hard and made things difficult."

Laila Edwards
On the pregame ceremony: 

"What we did last year is incredible, and I think it definitely needed some recognition. It's so cool raising the banner. A lot of alumni came back and you just got to feel what that old team felt like again, but as soon as that puck dropped, we flipped the switch. We've got a new team this year and I'm really excited to see how we can follow up the past year."
 

Adéla Šapovalivová 
On her experience at Wisconsin so far:
"It's a new style, new state for me, but everyone's so nice and so helpful. Every day is so much better and also on the ice it's getting better, so I hope that it will continue."

Up Next: The Badgers face the Black Bears tomorrow for the second game of the series. Class of 2024 captain Britta Curl-Salemme will be honored before the game, and watch her younger sister, Brenda play for Maine. The game streams on B1G+, and puck drop is set for 2:00 p.m.