UW women’s hockey starts strong, then stalls against OSU
MADISON – In a showdown of the nation’s top two ranked teams, second-ranked Wisconsin dominated Ohio State during the first period. But that success didn’t last. The Badgers women’s hockey team lost, 3-1, to the Buckeyes on Friday night in front of a packed house at La Bahn Arena with the game turning on two late second period goals within the span of 2 minutes.
“It’s a game of momentum sometimes,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said. “One team can have momentum early on and then it can switch. We saw a little of that tonight. …
“You’re playing against a good team. They’re deep. They’re a veteran squad. They’ve got a lot of pride on the line, and they started to push halfway through that second period and they got rewarded with two goals not too far apart. The goals create energy.”
Wisconsin (28-5, 22-5 WCHA) didn’t allow a shot on goal during the first 131⁄ minutes and during the first period owned a 19-2 edge in that category.
However, as the evening went on the Buckeyes (29-2, 26-1) appeared to get stronger with the puck and faster.
By the final buzzer they owned a 34-29 advantage on shots on goal.
The loss came on Senior Night. Before the game UW honored seniors Brtta Curl, Chayla Edwards, Katie Kotlowski, Casey O’Brien, Maddie Wheeler and Anna Wilgren.
Wheeler later gave UW a 1-0 lead at the 1-minute 32-second mark of the second period off passes from sophomore Laila Edwards and Wilgren.
The game, however, turned during the second half of the second period when Ohio State played for long stretches in its offensive zone.
Senior Kiara Zanon was the first Buckeye to be rewarded. Former Badger Makenna Webster scored what proved to be the game-winner for Ohio State at the 17:39 mark of the period.
The Buckeyes added an empty net score with 26 seconds left for their final margin of victory.
The puck drops for Game 2 of the series at 8 p.m. Saturday. The game can be seen on the Big Ten Network or heard on the iHeartRadio app.
“The big thing for me is at this time of year you’ve got to be able to play 60 minutes,” Johnson said. “You can’t play part of a game real well. When you’re playing against the quality opponents we’re going to be facing the rest of the year, it’s a situation where it’s 60 minutes.”