The Wisconsin Badgers scored three third-period goals to erase a 1-0 deficit and snapped their five-game losing streak in a 3-1 win over Bemidji State at Hobbs Ice Arena on Saturday.
Badger captain Sis Paulsen left the game after an injury in the first period, and Bemidji State scored at 7:32 of the second to take a 1-0 lead.
Kerri McEwen was stopped on a backhand while driving to the net, but Alicia Kinsman recovered the puck in the left corner and found Guylaine Hache alone in the slot. Hache flipped the puck past Jackie MacMillan’s on the short side for her seventh of the season.
The game stayed 1-0 at the second intermission despite the Badgers holding a 24-9 advantage in shots. But at 3:56 of the third period, Meghan Hunter worked a give-and-go with Kendra Antony and finished for her seventh goal.
Karen Rickard scored the game-winning goal at 13:47 of the final stanza. Julia Ortenzio took the puck along the left boards and took a wrist shot from low in the left circle. Bre Dedrickson stopped the shot, but Rickard was alone in the slot for the rebound. It was the sophomore’s fifth.
“It was really nice when the players picked up, including the play of Ortenzio to help get the second and go-ahead goal, “said head coach Trina Bourget. “It was a tough play in front of the net and it picked the team up.”
The Beavers pulled Dedrickson with 1:15 left in the game, but were whistled for too many players on the ice. BSU kept its net empty and the Badgers capitalized with the only power-play tally of the contest. Kerry Weiland won the puck in her own zone and skated it into the BSU end, hitting Antony with a saucer pass, and the junior finished her sixth of the season at 19:45 to seal the game.
“It was great to see them battle back,” Bourget said. “You can react one of two ways and they just kept fighting. We’re excited to get the ‘W’ and end the semester on a good note. We’re halfway to our goal.”
MacMillan made 15 saves to earn the win and improve to 7-7-1 on the year. Dedrickson stopped 31 shots, but dropped to 4-3-4.
The Badgers (7-7-2 overall, 6-4-1 WCHA) and the Beavers (5-4-4, 3-3-3) face off again Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
