Wisconsin scored a pair of power-play goals and Kerry Weiland scored once and added two assists to lead the seventh-ranked Badgers to a 3-1 victory over No. 5 Harvard at the Bright Hockey Center on Saturday.
Meghan Hunter added two assists as the Badgers knocked off their second top-five opponent of the season.
“Kerry Weiland did a super job today, stepping up into the offensive rush and playing solid defense,” Wisconsin coach Trina Bourget said. “Sis Paulsen did a great job also. They both stayed within their game and played really well.”
Wisconsin took a 1-0 lead with its first power-play goal of the game. Weiland pinched in at the blue line to keep the puck in the offensive zone and skated into the slot. Her shot was stopped by Harvard goaltender Alison Kuusisto, who also stopped the rebound shot from Kendra Antony. Weiland found the second rebound and pushed it into a half-empty net at the 15:43 mark.
Weiland set up the second power-play score with a point shot that Kelly Kegley deflected in from the slot. Hunter extended her point-scoring streak to seven games with the second assist. The goal, on a five-on-three, came at 11:40 in the second.
Harvard cut into the lead at 9:27 of the third period. Kalen Ingram kept the puck on a two-on-one and wristed the puck past the Badgers’ Jackie MacMillan.
“Harvard came ready to play, but it was hard for them because they didn’t have their depth and were missing a couple of key players,” Bourget said. “They battled hard and were aggressive on the forecheck.”
It stayed a one-goal contest until 18:35, when the Crimson took their timeout and pulled their goaltender for an extra skater. Thirty seconds later, Nicole Uliasz took advantage of the vacant goal with her third goal of the season. Hunter and Weiland both got assists.
“The freshmen were picking it up on the forecheck led by Steph Boeckmann,” commented Bourget. “Freshman Nicole Uliasz played well defensively and let the coaches breathe a little easier with the empty-net goal.”
MacMillan stopped 19 shots to earn the win and improve to 6-1-0 on the season. Kuusisto made 17 saves in Harvard’s first game of the year and dropped to 0-1-0.
“We played well,” Bourget said. “I am proud of our players. We were playing hard, now we have to play smarter.”
