The Badgers have started off their season strong, but have a tough early-season challenge now.
Casey O’Brien set the tone for the weekend coming out and scoring two first-period goals Friday night in Chestnut Hill against the Boston College Eagles. From then on it was all Badgers. The fifth-year senior added two assists on the night for a four-point game.
Joining O’Brien with a four-point night of her own was sophomore Kelly Gorbatenko, all by way of assist. The No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers (4-0) poured it on all night, outshooting their opponent nearly three-to-one.
Junior Laila Edwards netted two of her own back-to-back in the second period, including a short-handed tally to help right the ship after redshirt junior Marianne Picard was sent off for a game misconduct.
The Eagles (1-2) got on the board quickly in the third, but that would be their only goal of the weekend as Wisconsin won Friday night 7-1.
Other goal scorers for the Badgers include juniors Kirsten Simms and Caroline Harvey, and redshirt sophomore Claire Enright.
Saturday night began with a 21-shot onslaught in the opening period, but somehow only redshirt senior Lacey Eden found the back of the net. The second frame was a different story.
Caroline Harvey opened the floodgates with a power-play goal and the Badgers poured it on from there, scoring five more times courtesy of Eden, Simms, sophomore Cassie Hall, and finally O’Brien. Sophomore Sarah Wozniewicz added the cherry on top in the third to cap off a 7-0 victory.
O’Brien finished with three points on the night, pushing her weekend total to seven and extending her NCAA-leading season total to 15. The super senior is averaging nearly four points per game to start the season. She sits at 198 career points and has a shot at the milestone this weekend when No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth visits Madison to help headline a sold-out series.
The Bulldogs (3-1) already went to Columbus and swept then-No. 1 Ohio State to open the season. They followed up with a split at No. 7 Colgate. The brutal gauntlet of road games concludes with a trip to now-No. 1 Wisconsin.
They’ve certainly been scrappy. The Badgers can expect 60-minute battles on Saturday and Sunday. Minnesota-Duluth has scored more than half their goals this year in the third period, helping them to come-from-behind wins in each of their three victories.
The series is unfortunately limited to afternoon games with the men’s hockey season opening next door at the Kohl Center, but LaBahn will be rocking all weekend with this premium match-up of top-ranked teams. As an added bonus, our friends on the East Coast won’t have to contend with bedtime to catch the 2 p.m. CT start.
Game Info
Date: Saturday, October 11 and Sunday, October 12
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Place: Madison, WI | LaBahn Arena
TV: B1G+ Radio: 1070 AM