MADISON — The top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team opened 2022 with a 5-2 win over #4 Quinnipiac on Saturday afternoon. Five different Badgers scored, including a short-handed tally from sophomore Casey O’Brien – her 21st goal in as many games.
The first period featured a lot of movement up and down the ice as the teams felt each other out and worked off the rust. Wisconsin last played on December 11, while the Bobcats hadn’t taken the ice since November 27.
The Badgers have been known to struggle coming out of breaks, be it a bye week or the winter pause in play. The first period has also been their weakest.
“I think we know that every team is going to come out against us playing their best. And so we’re not really sure what to expect from everybody. We watch the video on every team we play. But it seems like everybody has an extra gear when it comes to us. And so it just takes us a little bit to adapt. And as long as we can do that, we usually end up with a win after,” said Nicole LaMantia.
On Saturday, Quinnipiac was able to control the puck and hold the offensive zone for long stretches of time, though the Badgers did keep them from putting anything too dangerous on net.
“In the middle of the first period, I’m thinking ‘let’s get this thing 0-0 and get to the end of the first period’ and gain that experience,” said Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson. “
Quinnipiac opened the scoring 55 seconds into the second period when Nina Steingauf redirected a high shot from Kate Reilly down and past Kennedy Blair. The goal was reviewed for a possible high stick, but counted as good and the Bobcats had a 1-0 lead.
The lead would not last long as Wisconsin’s Caitlin Schneider took a pass from Sarah Wozniewicz and sniped the puck past Corinne Schroeder to tie it up. The Badgers caught Quinnipiac on the change. Wozniewicz drew the defender, leaving Schneider with a free path to the net.
Wisconsin went up 2-1 just a few minutes later. A Nicole LaMantia shot was initially saved, but the puck ended up sitting next to Schroeder in the crease. Maddi Wheeler dove at the puck, but it actually went in off a Bobcat defender who was trying to keep Wheeler away.
The Badgers outshot Quinnipiac 19-8 in the second frame.
Much like Minnesota did in early December, the Bobcats put pressure on with a strong forecheck, which made it hard for UW to move the puck up ice. They anticipated passes in the neutral zone and disrupted the Badgers’ timing, leading to a handful of offside calls.
This paid off early in the third when Maya Labad caught up with Maddie Posick along the board behind the Badger net. She won the puck and slid it out to Taylor House, who was standing alone in front of the net and easily tapped it in to tie the game at 2.
O’Brien put the Badgers ahead for good with a spectacular effort during a Quinnipiac power play midway through the third. She was careful with the puck through the snow and pocked ice in front of the benches and used her body to keep the defender away from the puck while cutting in towards the net.
“My biggest thought in that moment was just to keep it ahead of me and I could chase it down, even if I didn’t have full possession because I trusted my speed. And luckily it worked out,” said O’Brien.
“We actually practiced a lot yesterday that on the penalty kill we should be pressuring those defenders on the point really hard when they get it, especially if it’s not full possession. I saw that was going up the board, they kind of weren’t sure which player was going to go get it. So I did see an opportunity just to poke it by and I know with my speed, I could beat them. And then that five hole move, if you ask anybody, I’m practicing that almost every day. So I was pretty confident.”
The Badgers had a number of odd-player rushes as the third period went on as Quinnipiac pushed to score the equalizer.
“We really want to feel confident making plays and sometimes when you’re going to do that, especially against a team that pressures hard, you’re going to turn it over. I think in order to get to a place where you connect, you have to learn when is the right time, when is not. So we’re in that process right now,” said Quinnipiac coach Cassandra Turner.
Wisconsin expanded their lead in the waning minutes of the game. Wozniewicz cut into the slot and took a shot that deflected off the goalie and hit the post. The puck was loose and put back by Katie Kotlowski. It rebounded one more time to Delaney Drake, who tapped it into the net.
Wozniewicz finished the game with three shots, a block and three assists.
“I thought Woz was probably our best forward today. She was all over the place and playing well and could have been rewarded with at least one or two goals. She’s a happy go lucky kid and she loves playing. The first part of the game where we collectively weren’t very good as a team, she was pretty good,” said Johnson.
The teams return to the ice on Sunday for the second game in the series. Quinnipiac will look to build on the lessons learned in Saturday’s game.
“We have a lot to learn. It’s nice to get challenged the way we did so we can learn and come back ready to play,” she said.
“I think we did some really good things. We really possessed the puck well and we moved the puck very, very well and we’re able to have the puck. When we were able to have the puck, I thought we did a nice job forcing them to defend and creating good looks. So it’ll be fun tomorrow.”
