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Minnesota’s power play proved its proficiency again on
Sunday afternoon as the undefeated Gophers downed the Wisconsin Badgers 3-1 in
WCHA action at the Kohl Center.
The second period power play goal by former Olympian Krissy
Wendell sealed the victory the Gophers. Camped on the back door, Wendell took
Natalie Darwitz’s pass from across the crease and slammed it into an empty net.
Minnesota scored three power play goals against the Badgers
in Saturday’s 3-0 victory and has converted on 38.5 percent of its chances this
season with the man-advantage.
Though the Gophers had the 1-0 lead on the scoreboard at
the end of the first period the period may have proved very costly. With less
than five minutes to go they lost captain Kelsey Bills to an apparent ankle
injury. The senior from Carstairs, Alberta was carried off the ice unable to put
any weight on her foot.
The lone score of the first period came on a Chelsey
Brodt’s shot from the blue line that deflected off Wisconsin defender Kathryn Greaves stick over Christine Dufour’s left shoulder.
The Badgers pulled to within one goal at 17:41 of the third
period when freshman Sara Bauer skated across the middle and used her backhand
to put the puck top-shelf. The Badgers then took their timeout to plot strategy.
Goaltender Christine Dufour was pulled for the extra
attacker with 18:49 on the clock. The Badgers kept the puck in the zone until
the waning seconds. With less than 10 seconds on the clock, Natalie Darwitz
stole the puck. She dished off to La Toya Clark, who banged home the empty net
goal.
“Very happy with the effort that the girls did not only in
yesterday’s game but how they responded, came back (and) played very hard
today,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said. “We had six pretty good periods, made
a couple mistakes in the first game on our penalty kill—overall very encouraged
by a lot of signs.
“I’m encouraged. I like what I saw and I got some questions
answered as far as some of the things that we need to get answered in the early
part of the season here.”
The Badgers (4-2, 0-2 WCHA) are home again next weekend
when they take on Ohio State at the Kohl Center at 2 p.m. Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.