Wisconsin women's hockey streaks come to crashing halt
Winning, unbeaten, and rivalry streaks came to an end as Wisconsin women's hockey faced an untimely defeat
Between saves, scoring, and, ultimately, winning, streaks define Wisconsin women’s hockey. The top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, who have made 12-straight NCAA Tournaments, entered this weekend’s series against the No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers trying to extend a winning streak to two dozen games, and an unbeaten streak even further.
Those streaks, alongside another that reshaped the Border Battle rivalry, came to a crashing halt Friday night inside LaBahn Arena.
A 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Gophers ended Wisconsin’s 23-game winning streak dating back to last season. That streak, merely interrupted by ties, was part of a larger 37-game unbeaten run dating back to November 16th. Plus, a 10-game winning streak for Wisconsin over Minnesota, which gave UW its first-ever lead in the all-time series over its Border Battle rival, came to an end, knotting the series at 58-58-16.
Minnesota (10-1-0, 6-1-0 WCHA) pulled away late, scoring five times over the final 21 minutes and 10 seconds, putting the first blemish on Wisconsin’s (10-1-0, 6-1-0 WCHA) resume in 349 days.
“It’s a 60-minute game. It was a good game for 40 minutes,” Badgers head coach Mark Johnson said.
Cassie Hall provides lone Wisconsin Badgers highlight
One streak managed to stay alive on Friday night. Despite injuries continuing to shake up Johnson’s lineup, Cassie Hall continues to deliver. On a newly configured line, swapping out Maggie Scannell at the right wing for Kirsten Simms, Hall continued her scoring spree with a tremendous individual effort, scoring a goal in a fifth-straight game.
As Minnesota tried to regroup in the neutral zone, Hall applied pressure at the Gopher blue line, forcing a turnover. The junior collected the puck in the middle of the ice for a one-on-one rush against Sydney Morrow. The UMN defender blocked Hall’s initial shot from the high point. She would not, however, deny the Badgers center her 11th goal in as many games.
Collecting her own rebound, Hall quickly flicked a wrist shot past Minnesota goaltender Hannah Clark. For the third time in Wisconsin’s past four games, the South Lyon, Michigan native scored first.
Wisconsin women’s hockey denied in second period
Hall’s 50th career goal was Wisconsin’s lone highlight for the night. The Badgers put together an impressive run to open the second period, but the Gophers flipped a switch midway through.
In a span of under two minutes, the Badgers logged nine shot attempts while preventing the Gophers from recording one at the other end of the ice. Those shots created a flurry of quality chances, as the first eight of the nine all reached Clark without being blocked.
“We had, whatever, five, six, seven, eight, real good looks to make it two-nothing, maybe three-nothing, and their goaltender made the saves that she needed to make,” Johnson said.
Immediately afterward, Minnesota responded with a run of its own, attempting eight shots to Wisconsin’s two. The Gophers did not score in that two-and-a-half-minute stretch, but it cascaded from there.
“The second period was sort of back and forth, you know. They would turn it over. We would turn it over and we would play in their end we would play in our end,” said Johnson. “But, you know we got a little too loose for my comfort level in the second period. Which, you know, they ended up creating some opportunities. And [UW goaltender] Ava [McNaughton], you know, made some saves for us, as well as, their goaltender making them saves for them.”
Caroline Harvey defensive miscues prove costly
A pair of miscues by the Wisconsin women’s hockey captain resulted in Minnesota tying the game in the second and pulling away with the lead in the third period.
Caroline Harvey is among the best skaters in women’s hockey. Harvey’s speed allows her to make riskier decisions while defending. Oftentimes, Harvey can take herself out of position and put herself back into the play. On Friday night, however, Harvey twice overcommitted to a puck carrier on the rush, leaving a Gopher wide open for a pass and a breakaway opportunity.
Minnesota knotted it at 1-1 with 1:10 remaining in the middle frame. Gophers defender Nelli Laitinen carried the puck across the blue line before leaving a drop pass for her UMN co-captain Abbey Murphy. Harvey misplayed the rush, leaving Josefin Bouveng open in the high slot with no defender between her and McNaughton. Murphy delivered a tape-to-tape pass to Bouveng, who beat McNaughton point-blank.
Not long after the second intermission, UMN took a lead 2:10 into the third period, and doubled it 2:20 later. Another goal on the rush, where Harvey skated cross-ice, she overcommitted to taking the puck away from Gophers forward Tereza Plosová. Harvey’s blue-line partner, Laila Edwards, did not compensate for the decision, and Plosová found a wide-open Sydney Morrow at the blue line.
“She’d probably like to have it back,” Johnson said of Harvey’s decision to attack the puck and leave the other attacker open for the pass.
The Gophers defender pulled off an impressive deke to beat McNaughton. The Shattuck-St. Mary’s product faked left, getting the Badgers’ goaltender to bite, before pulling the puck to the right and tapping it into the open net.
“A lot of different things went in there. A lot of different mistakes were happening,” Johnson said. “You know, maybe in the past, when we’ve had a few of those blunders in a game, Ava’s been able to bail us out and make saves. Where, you know, tonight, you know, it didn’t work out that way.”
Badgers defense creates challenging goaltending night
Wisconsin put McNaughton in challenging positions throughout the night. With breakaways and turnovers headed back her way, the reigning National Goaltender of the Year had her work cut out for her, but managed the best she could given the circumstances.
“The first goal is four-on-four, you know, their player slips by one of ours, and you know, all alone. And, she had made a bunch of good saves in the second,” said Johnson of his goaltender’s performance. “And then, the third, you know, off the faceoff, they got two people in front of that and the rebound comes in, and so. She, she was fine. She was playing well.”
The junior made 29 saves, but surrendered a career-high five goals before being replaced in relief by rookie Rhyah Stewart for the final 11:08.
“I mean, she gave us, you know, two strong periods. Gave us a chance to win. And then the third period, you know, was a collective group that, uh, you know, got outplayed. And that’s why we ended up losing,” Johnson concluded.
Stewart stopped all four shots she faced.
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That’s good reporting. I hope Abbey Murphy is okay long term.