Less than a day after falling to Minnesota, Wisconsin bounced back in a big way with Lacey Eden leading the way to a 5-1 Badgers win.
Less than a day after falling to Minnesota, Wisconsin bounced back in a big way with Lacey Eden leading the way to a 5-1 Badgers win.
MINNEAPOLIS — Lacey Eden scored twice and Ava McNaughton finished with 23 saves as No. 3 Wisconsin secured a 5-1 win over and series split with No. 2 Minnesota.
Eden tied the game at one apiece midway through the second period, then provided an insurance goal in the third.
“The border battle always brings out a lot of emotions,” Eden said. “Yesterday gave us a couple things to reflect on. We watched video of a couple things that we can work on and how to shut them down while capitalizing on our opportunities. I think that showed today.”
Eden’s first tally came after the Gophers mishandled the puck alongthe offensive zone blue line during a power play. Eden picked up the puck, skated in on a breakaway and beat Minnesota goaltender Skylar Vetter glove-side.
“Casey (O’Brien) was able to poke it right up to me and there was no looking back,” Eden said. “I saw where I wanted to shoot when I was around the blue line and I just took it in.”
She struck again 7:11 into the third period, sliding the puck between Vetter’s pads from the right edge of the crease to give the Badgers a 3-1 lead.
Kelly Gorbatenko scored the go-ahead goal at 14:39 of the second period with one second remaining on a Badgers power play. The freshman collected a rebound in front of the crease and slid the puck around Vetter’s left pad.
“We didn't capitalize on the power plays (yesterday) and gave up some timely goals that kept us on the heels,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said. “We just talked about the same effort today. If you do that, then eventually you're going to get a break. We capitalized on those things today.”
Minnesota’s Ella Huber nearly cut the lead to one just inside the seven minute mark, but Wisconsin Anna Wilgren dove across the crease behind McNaughton to block the point-blank attempt.
Moments later, Kirsten Simms struck from the slot to put the Badgers up 4-1 with 6:21 remaining. The sophomore registered her second-straight multi-point game with an assist on Britta Curl’s tally with 1:32 to play.
Minnesota’s Josefin Bouveng broke a deadlock 2:55 into the second period. She took a pass at the far blue line from Maggie Nicholson and skated in on a 2-on-1. The Swede held on before firing a shot from the left circle over McNaughton’s blocker.
But the freshman netminder was perfect the rest of the way, stopping nine shots to capture her eighth win of the season and first in three starts.
“She's gotten better as we've gone long,” Johnson said. “She's doing what she has to do as she understands and learns the league and has gotten better over it. I was happy for her with that victory today.”
Vetter finished with 36 saves in the loss for the Gophers, who saw their 10-game unbeaten streak come to an end. The teams will resume play on January 5 following winter break.Wisconsin hosts Merrimack, while Minnesota will face Connecticut, also at home.