Sophomores shine in No. 2 Badgers season-opening win

Friday, September 22

Madison, Wis.

7 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

1-0-0

Lindenwood

0-1-0

Lindenwood

Wisconsin

Photo by: David Stluka

Sophomores shine in No. 2 Badgers season-opening win

September 22, 2017 | Women's Hockey

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UW opens 2017-18 campaign with 3-1 win against Lindenwood

MADISON, Wis. – The sophomore trio of Presley Norby, Abby Roque and Mekenzie Steffen each tallied goals to lead the No. 2 Wisconsin women's hockey to a 3-1 season-opening win over Lindenwood on Friday at LaBahn Arena.

"We haven't had, from a coaching standpoint, a lot of practice time," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "After the first six or eight minutes, I think we settled down a little and started to play the way that we as coaches thought we were going to play. A lot of good things happened."

Norby put the Badgers on the board late in the first period, giving Wisconsin (1-0-0) a 1-0 lead over Lindenwood (0-1-0) after the first 20 minutes.

"A goal's never anything to complain about," Norby said. "I had a pretty good shot there from Abby's pass, and it's always good to put a few points on the board."

In the second, Roque scored on UW's first power play of the year to give the Badgers a 2-0 advantage, but Lindenwood answered on a power play of its own to make it a 2-1 game after two periods.

Steffen tacked on an insurance goal in the third period, launching a rocket past Lindenwood netminder Jolene deBruyn, who ended the game with 48 saves.

Six Badgers, including Roque and Norby, contributed assists for Wisconsin.

Goaltender Kristen Campbell, in her first game as a Badger after transferring from North Dakota, stopped eight shots to earn the victory in net.

UW outshot Lindenwood 51-9 and held the Lady Lions without a shot on goal in the third period.

Wisconsin wraps up its non-conference series with Lindenwood on Saturday with a 3 p.m. matchup at LaBahn Arena.

"As every game gets played, we should get better," Johnson said. "At times we have five freshmen on the ice, they did a pretty good job but it's new to them. A month from now, it won't be new to them. We as coaches have to work with them, get more practice time. Games are the best part because now we can show them some video tomorrow, show them some again Monday, and we'll start to make some progress in some areas."