MADISON, Wis. – The No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey shutout the Maine Black Bears for the second game in a row, winning this Saturday's game, 5-0 and collecting a series sweep at home.

Junior Laney Potter recorded her third career multi-goal game, as the Badger defense held the Black Bears scoreless for the duration of the game. On top of its 4-0-0 start to the season, UW also has three shutouts in its last three games.

Captain Caroline Harvey opened the scoring tab for the Badgers with 11:29 minutes remaining in the first period. After receiving the puck from Vivian Jungels from behind Wisconsin's blue line, Harvey raced through several Black Bears to score her first goal of the season.

The Badgers went onto the power play with 4:58 remaining in the period, after a holding penalty from Maine on Lacey Eden. After several attempts at a goal, the score ultimately was 1-0 after the first, with Wisconsin outshooting the Bears, 18-2.

Nearly four minutes into the second period of play, alternate captain Kelly Gorbatenko recorded her first goal of the 2025-26 season, reacting quickly to poke in a rebound off senior Laila Edwards' shot.

The Badgers remained hungry for goals. Laney Potter tipped one in with 14:29 remaining in the second after her fellow defender Laila Edwards sent her a pass from the other side of the ice.

Midway through the second, senior Kirsten Simms put up a fourth goal for Wisconsin, finding the puck from alternate captain Marriane Picard. The goal was Simms' eight point of the season and the fourth of the series. 

As the third period opened, the Black Bears carried the puck up to Wisconsin's net but goaltender Ava McNaughton stayed busy making her 12th save of the game. 

Wisconsin won eight faceoffs in the first half of the third period, controlling possession of the puck, before Potter scored her second goal of the game with an assist from Gorbatenko, matching last game's score of 5-0.  

Freshman Rhyah Stewart went in net for McNaughton with 9:16 remaining in the third, making her Badger debut. 

Notes of the Game

• Caroline Harvey, Laney Potter, and Kelly Gorbatenko all scored their first goals of the season.

• Freshman Rhyah Stewart made her debut for the Badgers during the third period. The Nova Scotia native recorded three saves in nine minutes of play time.

• The Badgers now have a 24-game win streak at LaBahn, dating back to Feb. 24, 2024.

• Former Badger captain Britta Curl-Salemme returned to LaBahn for a ceremonial puck drop before today's game against the Black Bears. She was joined by her former teammate Caroline Harvey and her sister Brenna Curl who plays for Maine.

Straight from the Rink 
UW Head Coach Mark Johnson
On scoring opportunities: 

"We got a bunch of great opportunities today, and we capitalized on several of them. People put themselves in position to play the game the right way. Eventually, they're going to get chances."

Junior Laney Potter
On the team's second period success:

"In between periods in the locker room, there's a lot of 'what can we do better?' so the jump at the start of the second is usually pretty hot for us. Obviously, it's only four games, but I think as the year goes on we'll continue to build."

Kelly Gorbatenko
On her goal:

"​​We had so many good shifts up to that point, and we had a lot of momentum. Going into that, we felt like we had to take a breather, get one in the net, and then from that point we kept rolling and got our chances. We knew it was coming; it was just a matter of time."

Up Next: The Badgers stay at home for their first ranked matchup of the season, taking on No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth next Friday and Saturday. The games stream on Big Ten Plus.