Wisconsin women's hockey makes hustle plays to beat Tommies
A first career goal, a gritty power forward, and a quick skating fifth-year made the difference
Madison, WI — Since the St. Thomas Tommies transitioned from Division III to DI, it has been 18 games against and 18 losses to Wisconsin women’s hockey. The Wisconsin Badgers forced Tommies head coach Bethany Brausen to make a change in net midway through, as UW got back in the win column with a dominating 8-0 victory.
Seven different Badgers scored in a bounce-back game after Wisconsin tied the St. Cloud State Huskies in their last game.
“It’s a good sign,” UW head coach Mark Johnson said of his team’s performance on Thursday night. “I mean, I was anxious to see, you know, after last weekend on the big ice sheet, how we, you know, how we play under, you know, what we call normal ice sheets.”
On the LaBahn Arena rink, which is smaller than its counterpart in St. Cloud, Wisconsin thrived. The Badgers consistently won small-area battles and converted them into goals.
Wisconsin women’s hockey does the little things to score
Badgers forward Kelly Gorbatenko was the first credited with a goal, but she would not have gotten the scoring started if it were not for a hustling Lacey Eden.
An errant St. Thomas pass in Wisconsin’s defensive zone got past Tommies defender Julianna Gazdik. Skating from end to end, Eden raced past Gazdik and gathered the puck on the boards behind the Tommies’ net. Trailing Eden, Gorbatenko skated into the zone undefended and fired home a point-blank shot on Eden’s backhand feed.
“At practice, a big focus is competing. Winning those 50-50 battles,” Eden said after tying a single-game career-high in scoring with a four-point performance. “I think when you’re doing that as a team, collectively, when every person wants to win their 50-50 battles, that’s when you’re most successful as a team.”
Between winning races for loose pucks, battling along the boards, and forcing turnovers, a Wisconsin team that often scores with skill and finesse instead scored throughout the night with hustle and grit.
“Some of the things that happened, you know, through effort and being first on pucks, if you’re willing to do that consistently, you’re probably going to play in the offensive zone or at least get scoring opportunities out of it,” Johnson said in a post-game interview. “So, a couple of goals was directly related to, you know, outworking and out-hustling somebody into a space and then finding someone.”
Charlotte Pieckenhagen puts together first multi-point performance
No Badger has earned more of their opportunities from those simple tasks than Charlotte Pieckenhagen. The rookie plays just about anywhere Johnson needs her in the lineup. She started the evening on the fourth line, but later appeared on UW’s top power play unit.
And as Pieckenhagen said, through a bit of laughter, when Johnson calls your name for a shift on one of the most prolific power plays in the country, she got over the boards, “really fast.”
“It’s amazing playing with them,” Pieckenhagen said of her time on the PP alongside Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey, Kirsten Simms, and Eden. “You just look around you and there are all future Olympians around you, so that’s pretty cool.”
Pieckenhagen’s 5-foot-10 frame has made her a favorite role player for this Wisconsin staff. Whether UW’s coaches ask her to provide a physical netfront presence on the advantage or to retrieve a puck from the corners, the St. Catharines, Ontario native relishes her role.
“That was kind of my main focus. Getting in and just winning every battle I get in the corner,” Pieckenhagen explained. “I knew that’s kind of what I wanted to focus on. Like, I’m a big body, so, being able to drive the net, I have the ability to like box people out and stuff like that that maybe a smaller person wouldn’t have the ability to do. So, driving the net has kind of always been my part in hockey.”
On Thursday, the right-handed forward reaped the rewards for playing her part. Pieckenhagen tallied a goal and an assist for the first multi-point game of her career.
Injured Vivian Jungels out, first-career-goal scoring Grace Bickett in
Vivian Jungels sat out Thursday with an injury. Just after Wisconsin had its whole roster available for the first time in over a month, the Badgers’ defender was unavailable for Game 1 with the Tommies. Still, Johnson opened the door to the possibility Jungels could skate in Friday’s series finale.
“She’ll skate a little bit tomorrow morning. She skated this morning and did pretty well,” the winningest coach in the history of NCAA DI women’s ice hockey said. “Maybe an extra day, you know, extra couple days, we don’t play until next Saturday. So, a little more time off might help. [Athletic trainer] Stef [Ardnt] will skate her tomorrow morning and make a decision.”
Jungels, Harvey’s longtime partner on the blue line, has recorded 10 points through 14 games this season. With her out of the lineup, rookie defender Mackenzie Jones skated significant minutes on Thursday.
Sophomore Grace Bickett was the final addition to Wisconsin’s active gameday roster due to Jungels’ absence. In Bickett’s 10th game played for the Badgers, she scored her first career goal.
“Anytime a player gets her first goal, it’s super special,” Eden said. “Especially someone like Grace who’s so supportive and just a great teammate. You’re just ecstatic for her and hopefully it’s the first of many in her career!”
Statistics and musings
Harvey’s three assists give her 120 in her career, the fifth-most in program history. She is currently on a 12-game scoring streak and has at least one point in 14 of 15 games this season.
Edwards logged an assist, giving her a point in four straight games and in four of five since returning from injury.
Ava McNaughton collected her 19th-career shutout, putting her alone in fifth place for the most in Badgers women’s hockey history.
Before Thursday, no Wisconsin skater had logged four points in a single game this season. Both Eden and Harvey did so in Game 1 against the Tommies.
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Way to go Bickett