Amy Vermeulen scored the first two goals of the game as Wisconsin earned a 5-0 victory over McGill University, the second-ranked team in Canada, Wednesday at McConnell Arena.
Vermeulen opened the scoring four minutes, 17 seconds into the first period when a McGill defender lost control of the puck just outside her own blue line. The forward picked up the puck and skated to the left circle and fired a wrist shot past the glove of Canadian Olympic goaltender Kim St-Pierre.
Vermeulen scored her second of the contest just four minutes later as Kerry Weiland fed Kathy Devereaux in the slot to start the play. St-Pierre stopped the first shot, but Vermeulen fought off a check and fired over the sprawled goalie for the score.
Wisconsin went up 3-0 in the final minute of the first period when Sis Paulsen scored on a wrist shot from high in the slot. Jackie Friesen had her shot stopped, as did Devereaux on the rebound. Devereaux controlled the second rebound and hit Paulsen cutting through the slot for an assist.
The Badgers dominated first-period play, outshooting the Martlets 21-0 in the first period. The Martlets finally put a shot on goal, 6:14 into the second period, but the Badgers finished the second period with a 20-3 shot advantage. Despite the advantage, St-Pierre kept Wisconsin off the board.
Wisconsin made it a 4-0 game at 4:58 of the third period as Devereaux was stopped on two shots, but Friesen put the second rebound over St-Pierre for the score.
Weiland closed out the scoring at 14:59 on a wrist shot from the slot. Meghan Hunter spotted Weiland cutting through the middle and hit the defender’s tape with the pass.
Meghan Horras saw her first game action for the Badgers, making seven saves for the shutout. St-Pierre stopped 55 shots, but absorbed the loss. Prior to the game, St-Pierre had shut out her last six North American opponents dating back to Nov. 3.
Wisconsin returns to the ice on Saturday in Toronto when it faces the Brampton Thunder at 7:30 p.m. EST.
