5 standouts in a 5-0 Wisconsin women's hockey win
With a shutout victory to cap the weekend, Wisconsin women's hockey team opened its season with a two-game sweep of the Bemidji State Beavers
In the season-opener, Bemidji State scored more goals against Wisconsin than the Beavers had in a single game since 2021. In Saturday’s series finale, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team returned to its usual suffocating defense, shutting out BSU for the seventh time in 10 meetings.
The 5-0 victory gave the Wisconsin Badgers (2-0-0, 2-0-0 WCHA) a series sweep to open the season for the third-straight year. Because Wisconsin and Bemidji were the first teams to meet in WCHA conference play, the win also gives the Badgers an early lead in the league standings.
There was no shortage of key contributors as Wisconsin showcased its well-rounded offense. All five goals came from different goal scorers, eight different Badgers recorded an assist, and no skater logged more than two points.
Adéla Šapovalivová scores first collegiate goal
Adéla Šapovalivová had a couple of firsts this weekend. As she took the mantle (and jersey number) from former Badger Casey O’Brien as Mark Johnson’s top-line center, the Wisconsin head coach was clearly impressed with Šapovalivová’s performance. In an interview before Game 2, Johnson reflected on the rookie’s Game 1 performance, remarking that “she actually could have scored a couple goals yesterday.”
Šapovalivová had to settle for just an assist on Friday, but the first European-born player in Wisconsin women’s hockey history found the back of the net Saturday. Defender Caroline Harvey found Šapovalivová with open ice at the top of the right circle. From there, it was all Šapovalivová. She weaved toward the net, scoring far side to give her team what proved to be a decisive 1-0 lead.
“[Šapovalivová] has a good IQ, and, you know, her relationship with [Kirsten] Simms and [Lacey] Eden is strong,” Johnson said in the interview about the chemistry between the young center and her veteran linemates. “I think as we go, she’ll continue to get better and better as she gets more comfortable and understands the league, understands our systems and how we play.”
With plenty of special teams shifts as a penalty killer and on Wisconsin’s top power-play unit on Saturday, Šapovalivová appears to have an early grasp on those systems.
Laila Edwards resumes dominance on offense
Johnson may have planned to give Laila Edwards more opportunities on defense early in the year (perhaps in deference to the US national team), but those plans may have been nixed as quickly as they were made. After a pair of miscues on defense yesterday, Edwards returned to the lineup at the wing.
The winningest coach in the history of NCAA women’s Division I ice hockey never seemed fully sold on Team USA’s plan to use Edwards on the blue line.
“Laila, if I’m not mistaken, was our leading goal scorer last year,” Johnson quipped Saturday. The senior led not just the Badgers, but all players in the country last season with 35 goals. She added 36 assists for a total of 71 points in 41 games as a junior, recording at least one point in all but five games.
Maybe seeing Edwards blanked from the score sheet in the season-opener, a game in which Wisconsin scored nine times, was evidence enough for Johnson to return to what he knows. In Edwards' return to forward, she notched her first goal and first assist of the year.
Maggie Scannell continues hot start
After recording her first collegiate hat trick on Friday, Maggie Scannell scored again on Saturday. The sophomore is off to a blistering start after scoring 16 goals as a rookie.
Scannell lined up at wing on the second line in the opener, but was bumped back inside to center as Edwards returned to forward. The Shattuck St. Mary’s alumna’s return to the faceoff dot was a welcome one for Wisconsin. Scannell won seven of her ten draws after her teammate, Finley McCarthy, struggled in the role at times in Game 1.
If her early presence on special teams is any indication, Scannell will have ample opportunities to build off her All-WCHA rookie team season.
Ava McNaughton stands tall
Wisconsin women’s hockey turned in a dominant performance on Saturday. Bemidji State did not record its first shot on goal until nearly 25 minutes had passed. The Badgers allowed only two shot attempts in the first period. A pair of blocks by Šapovalivová and defender Vivian Jungels prevented any pucks from getting through to the net on a BSU power play early in the second period.
It was not, however, a completely easy night for UW goaltender Ava McNaughton.
McNaughton made 12 saves en route to her 14th career shutout. Eight of those saves came in the second period, including some breakaway opportunities for Bemidji.
Tops among those breakaway opportunities came after a defensive zone turnover. Mackenzie Jones, making her rookie debut, passed the puck over to sophomore Emma Venusio near the slot as Wisconsin’s forwards began skating through the neutral zone. The puck bobbled off Venusio’s stick, and Beavers forward Senja Leeper picked it up in prime scoring position before being turned away by McNaughton.
Dark horse All-WCHA candidate Cassie Hall?
Cracking any of the All-WCHA teams as a forward is a high bar. Still, junior Cassie Hall might be ready to add another accolade to her resume after earning conference all-rookie team honors two seasons ago.
The center found the back of the net again on Saturday, giving her two goals and two assists on the weekend and tying Eden, Simms, Scannell, and Harvey for most by a Badger thus far. In the first two games, Hall has been buzzing around the net, recording a total of seven shots on goal.
Hall scored her goal Saturday, laying out for a rebound off an initial shot by defender Laney Potter. The South Lyon, Michigan native recorded 20 goals as a sophomore, only one more than she did as a rookie, but it was more than tripling her assists that made her second season so impressive. Hall continues packing her own goal-scoring punch, and there are plenty of other talented players around her to complement her playmaking abilities.
Hall could prove to be precisely the kind of player who flourishes with additional opportunities when Wisconsin’s stars head to the Olympics in February.
