BEMIDJI 鈥� Wisconsin and the Bemidji State women鈥檚 hockey team are about to get very familiar with each other.
Friday afternoon鈥檚 penultimate regular-season game pitted the nation鈥檚 top-ranked team against the Beavers for the first of at least four consecutive games against each other.
ADVERTISEMENT
With the Badgers locked into the top spot in the WCHA standings, and with BSU out of reach of climbing out of eighth place, UW will host Bemidji State next weekend at Labahn Arena for the WCHA Quarterfinals.
If Friday鈥檚 performance was a precursor, the Beavers are upset hunting. BSU hung tough with the Badgers in a 6-1 loss.
Bemidji State did a serviceable job in limiting top-ranked Wisconsin鈥檚 scoring chances in the first period.
The Badgers outshot the Beavers 11-2 and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. The only defensive blemish came a little over six minutes into the game when Caroline Harvey slid a shot through a screen by BSU goaltender Kaitlin Groess.
鈥淚t comes down to the importance of how we play defensively and shutting plays down,鈥� head coach Amber Fryklund said. 鈥淗ockey鈥檚 not perfect, you don鈥檛 get to choose the turnovers you have or the mistakes you make. But we can tighten up some areas. 鈥� Our first 20 (minutes), we did a really good job of playing defensively, and that鈥檚 something we can continue to build on.
Despite not getting a shot on goal until there were just under three minutes left in the first period, Bemidji State鈥檚 top line nearly converted in the closing seconds before the first intermission. Morgan Smith, Isa Goettl and Shelby Sandberg nearly connected on a tic-tac-toe passing sequence before UW goalie Ava McNaughton poked away Goettl鈥檚 one-time pass to Sandberg.
McNaughton later denied Alyssa Watkins on a breakaway early in the second period after Talya Hendrickson blocked a shot. Izy Faichild hit a post while the Beavers were on a power play shortly after.
ADVERTISEMENT
鈥淲hen we get those chances, you can tell the energy on the bench is really good,鈥� Fryklund said. 鈥淪implicity gains momentum. If we keep the game simple, chip pucks around them and make the simple plays, that helps us gain momentum. We were getting those chances, and hopefully, we can come back tomorrow, keep it simple defensively and capitalize on the opportunities we get.鈥�
Geno Hendrickson finally paid off a BSU scoring chance midway through the second period. After Sarah Wozniewicz took an offensive-zone cross checking penalty, scored on the player-advantage to tie the game.
The power-play tally ended UW鈥檚 shutout streak against Bemidji State. Wisconsin had not given up a goal against the Beavers since Oct. 21, 2023, a streak that stretched 313 minutes and 49 seconds of game time.
However, the Badgers wasted little time in taking the lead back.
Lacey Eden sparked a partial breakaway following a BSU neutral-zone turnover. Groess stopped the initial scoring chance before the rebound kicked out to Cassie Hall. Eden ran into Groess, giving Hall a wide-open net to shoot at.
鈥淭hey punched pretty hard, and we lost the momentum there in the second period,鈥� Fryklund said. 鈥淐ertainly, we liked the way our team came out in the third period, but if you give a team like Wisconsin (extra) opportunities, they鈥檙e going to take advantage of it. We made mistakes and they capitalized.鈥�
Fryklund challenged the play for goaltender interference but the call on the ice stood. Officials deemed that BSU junior defenseman Heidi Strompf pushed Eden into Groess.
ADVERTISEMENT
Shortly after the review, Kristen Simms scored on a 2-on-0 rush with Casey O鈥橞rien to put UW (30-1-2, 24-1-2 WCHA) ahead 3-1 heading into the second intermission.
Laila Edwards extended the lead just over five minutes into the third period with her 29th goal this season. O鈥橞rien made it 5-1 with her 22nd before Finley McCarthy scored with 31 seconds left in the third period.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a good hockey team, they move the puck so well,鈥� Fryklund said. 鈥淭hey have so many dynamic players who make plays, and they鈥檙e fast. They鈥檙e really quick in transition, and one of the things we talked about was how we have to make sure we get pucks deep. 鈥� There鈥檚 a reason why they鈥檙e No. 1 in the country and have only lost one game this season.鈥�
Groess finished with 32 saves in goal for the Beavers (6-27-1, 4-23-0 WCHA. Sophomore Eva Filippova, who was named WCHA Goaltender of the Week after her performance in Mendota Heights last weekend, did not dress. Filippova left Saturday鈥檚 contest against St. Thomas with an injury.
鈥淪he played really well and made some big saves,鈥� Fryklund said of Groess. 鈥淓very time she made a save our bench was so happy for her. There鈥檚 a lot of energy we get from that, too. He helps in building that momentum when she鈥檚 making those big saves. She was really good in getting pucks out of her area and covering pucks when she could. I鈥檓 really proud of her.鈥�
No. 1 Wisconsin 6, Bemidji State 1
UW 1 2 3 鈥� 6
ADVERTISEMENT
BSU 0 1 0 鈥� 1
First period 鈥� UW GOAL: Harvey (Enright, Picard) 6:13.
Second period 鈥� BSU GOAL: G. Hendrickson (Johnson, Reeves) PPG, 8:50; UW GOAL: Hall (Eden, McCarthy) 15:38; UW GOAL: O鈥橞rien (Simms, Edwards) 17:31.
Third period 鈥� UW GOAL: Edwards (O鈥橞rien, Simms) 5:12; UW GOAL: O鈥橞rien (Edwards, Harvey) 12;06; UW GOAL: McCarthy (Murphy, Wozniewicz) 19:28.
Saves 鈥� Groess (BSU) 32; McNaughton (UW) 11.
