Badgers, Bulldogs Break Even
As Minnesota-Duluth discovered last weekend, Madison is not a friendly town for visiting hockey teams. No. 7 Wisconsin (15-5-5) has lost only one game at home this season, and the Badgers used their home-ice advantage against the No. 3 Bulldogs (19-4-3). Wisconsin got a goal late in the third period in both games against UMD, forcing a 3-3 tie on Saturday and a 2-2 tie on Sunday.
Goaltender Jackie MacMillan did the dirty work for the Badgers, stopping 59 shots and holding the Bulldogs, who average more than five goals per game, to just five goals on the weekend. MacMillan is third in the WCHA in both save percentage (.896) and GAA (2.61).
Michelle Sikich netted the equalizer for Wisconsin with 2:07 left in regulation, while Meghan Hunter evened the score on Sunday with 1:42 left in the third. Hunter (33g, 26a), who is first in the nation in scoring and is the only rookie on the list of Kazmaier Award nominees, led the Badgers with a goal in each game. Steph Millar and Kelly Kegley also scored for Wisconsin.
The Bulldogs got two goals from their own Kazmaier nominee, Maria Rooth, with additional scoring coming from Erika Holst, Hanne Sikio and defenseman Pamela Pachal.
Saints Fall at Home
No. 6 St. Lawrence suffered a slight setback Saturday when the Saints lost to Niagara at home, 3-1. While the loss knocked St. Lawrence (15-5-3) out of its second-place tie with No. 4 Harvard in the conference standings, the Saints rebounded to beat the Eagles (14-11-3) on Sunday, 4-2, and settle for a series split.
Brooke Bradburn and Valerie Hall gave Niagara its three goals on Saturday, including one empty-netter from Bradburn, to hold on against St. Lawrence. Freshman netminder Rachel Barrie made 27 stops for the Saints, but she could not maintain her 1.82 GAA in the series opener.
Senior Caryn Ungewitter got the job done between the pipes the next day, making 21 saves. Hall was the only Eagle able to solve the Saints’ imposing defense (she scored twice on Sunday), but St. Lawrence poured 39 shots on goal at the other end to seal the victory.
St. Lawrence now trails Harvard (14-6-0) by two points for the second seed in the ECAC Tournament. But the Saints only have three games left against ranked opponents (including two this weekend against No. 8 Northeastern and No. 10 Providence) while six of the Crimson’s nine remaining contests will be against top-10 teams.
