Postgame Pulse: Mark Johnson breaks down Wisconsin's 8-0 win
Head coach Mark Johnson is joined by Wisconsin women's hockey forwards Lacey Eden and Charlotte Pieckenhagen after a resounding victory
Madison, WI — Head coach Mark Johnson was chatty after his top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team dismantled the No. 15 St. Thomas Tommies 8-0 on Thursday night inside LaBahn Arena. Apparently, it was a much-needed, morale-boosting win after tying the No. 10 St. Cloud State Huskies on the road last weekend.
“It’s amazing how you tie a game and win it in a shootout and everybody thinks we’re at a funeral the next day,” Johnson said with a touch of sarcasm. “And what went wrong, and what’s happening, and we feel sorry for it. It’s like, oh my gosh, it’s like the end of the world.
“It’s like—no. It’s all about learning about outselves and understanding how to play the game the right way.”
Simply put, that is what the Badgers did on Saturday. Wisconsin valued puck possession. UW’s 44 shots on goal more than tripled the Tommies’ 13. St. Thomas attempted only 27 shots on the night.
“You can never go into a game with expectations of how you want it to of exact plays that are going to happen,” Wisconsin alternate captain Lacey Eden said. “Because it’s a game, and really anything can happen. I pride myself on playing the right way no matter the score.”
“Just playing hard and being a good teammate. So, I think we do that consistently. We get opportunities no matter what it looks like. We get pucks to the net, and that’s what wins games at the end of the day.”
Winning races to pucks, winning battles for pucks, and getting pucks to the net was the theme of the night as the Badgers showed a will to win for sixty minutes.
“Coach was talking about just playing the right way today, and we knew we had to bounce back after last game,” rookie forward Charlotte Pieckenhagen said. “So, winning 50-50 battles was our main focus. And if you win those, you have a good chance of getting possession and getting down the ice.”
Hear full remarks from Johnson, Eden, and Pieckenhagen that followed Wisconsin’s WCHA conference win:
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