COLUMBUS, Ohio – It was a milestone afternoon at the OSU Ice Rink as the top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team earned a 7-3 win, head coach
Mark Johnson's 500th career triumph, over No. 8 Ohio State on Saturday.
With the win, Johnson became the first NCAA national collegiate women's ice hockey coach to reach 500 triumphs.
The Badgers (6-0-0, 2-0-0-0 WCHA) found themselves in an unfamiliar position early on as the Buckeyes (4-2-0, 2-2-0-0 WCHA) scored an even-strength goal, the first even-strength goal UW has given up in more than nine games, to take a 1-0 lead.
However, Wisconsin would take a 2-1 lead into the first break thanks to a pair of power-play goals.
Britta Curl tipped in a
Daryl Watts shot to tie things up at 1-1 with less than seven minutes remaining in the first before
Maddie Rowe scored to give UW a one-goal advantage.
Steffen added to the lead early on in the second, scoring her second of the weekend, before OSU tacked on two goals in the middle part of the period to tie things up at 3-3.
Wisconsin came back to dominate in the third with four more goals to take the victory.
Steffen wasn't done lighting the lamp, as the captain scored a power-play goal midway through the third period to give the Badgers a 4-3 lead before
Sophie Shirley scored 43 seconds later, adding one more to the scoreboard with 11 minutes to go.
Abby Roque added a goal with 3:43 left in the third followed by Watts who posted a power-play goal of her own to give UW a 7-3 final tally.
Three Notes to Know
- The Badgers power play has been on fire, as UW converted all four of its power play chances on Saturday. Wisconsin leads the country in power-play success with a .520 clip while the Badgers' 13 power-play goals pace the country.
- Sophie Shirley, the 2019 WCHA Rookie of the Year, notched her 50th career point while her sister, Grace, recorded her first career point assisting Steffen's first goal.
- Watts has now scored in six-straight games for the Badgers, which is tied for the 10th-longest streak in program history. The 2018 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner leads the NCAA in scoring this year with 18 points thanks to seven goals and 11 assists.
Straight from the Rink
UW Head Coach Mark Johnson
On the game:
"I think the power play obviously was a big factor, they (Ohio State) came out with a lot of energy in the second period. Although we were up 3-1, they got a couple goals and had the momentum. Then in the third period, after five good periods of hockey with both teams, [it's] who's going to get an opportunity, who's going to get a break, and we got that power play 12-13 minutes to go in the game and capitalized. Then Shirley makes a great individual effort and scores to make it 5-3. Then we finished the last eight or nine minutes doing the little things that we needed to do to close the game out. It was a great effort, great weekend. We got tested at different times and the things that we can learn from it, try to move forward and try to get better.
On the team:
Both groups, especially the first group, we have kids that can read plays, good passers and you're looking for opportunities. Last night, Ohio State blocked a bunch of shots. We were able to capitalize, but tonight, we sort of took what they gave us. And the puck goes back in the net, that makes your power play good, but I thought overall we created enough opportunities to warn some good chances. So the third period is where you really want your power play to click because it's 3-3 and whoever gets the next goal is going to have a big advantage and we're able to capitalize on that and get to the end with a nice fought, hard victory.
On 500 wins:
You're thankful of your assistant coaches, our entire support staff. You thank the players that we've had over the course of my time here that have made that commitment. We've lost a lot of games, it's not about me, it's about the program and trying to do things the right way and if we do it long enough and you're successful, eventually these numbers come around, so it's a good day."
Senior captain Mekenzie Steffen
On what clicked to clinch the sweep:
"Honestly, we talked about three things before we got here this weekend and they were: compete, communicate and manage the puck. And I thought we really emphasized those three points, and in that third period, we just gave it everything we had, and I think we really made a statement here in Ohio.
On the take away:
It's our third weekend here and we just swept Ohio at Ohio. I think that's a huge thing to build off of. That's a great turning point for us, and we're going to get back to work on Monday and just build off of that and be ready for next weekend."
On Coach's 500th win, how cool it is to be a part of this program:
Coach is obviously a guy who comes with a lot of experience. He just brings so much passion to the locker room, between periods every game, and it's honestly such a milestone for him to get that 500th win. He'll never admit it to anyone, but he has so much to be proud of. He's created a legacy here at Wisconsin, so it's awesome."
Up Next:
Wisconsin will head back out east to take on LIU Sharks next weekend.
The Badgers and Sharks will meet on Friday in a 2 p.m. CT contest at the IceWorks Arena before wrapping up the series on Saturday with a 4:30 p.m. CT game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, home to the New York Islanders.
