MADISON, Wis. -- Three current Wisconsin women's hockey players, along with six former Badgers and a former Badger, laced up their skates for the 2016 Winter Champions Series, a two-game series between the U.S. and Canada.
Five Badgers suited up for USA Hockey - Brianna Decker, Meghan Duggan, Hilary Knight,
Annie Pankowski and Alex Rigsby - while five players -
Emily Clark, Ann-Renee Desbiens, Meaghan Mikkelson, Sophie Shirley and Blayre Turnbull - played for Hockey Canada.
In Friday's 5-3 Canada series, a pair of Badgers earned starts in net as Rigsby was between the pipes for the U.S. while Desbiens started for Canada.Â
After Canada earned a 1-0 lead, Â former Badger Hilary Knight tied the game at one with a power-play strike.Â
Towards the end of the first period, Brianna Decker took a feed from Knight to give the United States a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.Â
Decker scored her second of the game midway through the second, giving the U.S. a 3-1 lead before junior
Emily Clark helped force a turnover which resulted in a Canadian goal.
Canada ultimately ended up scoring three goals in the third period to come away with a 5-3 win against the U.S. in Plymouth.Â
In the rematch on Monday in Sarnia, Ontario, Knight scored in the second period, giving the U.S. a 2-1 lead after two-periods of play.
Canada tied the game at 2 with 24 seconds remaining before Marie-Philip Poulin scored in overtime to give Canada the sweep of the U.S.Â
The two teams are expected to contend for gold next April at the 2017 IIHF World Championship in Plymouth, Michigan.Â
