HAMILTON, N.Y. – The No. 6 Wisconsin women's hockey raced out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 9-1 win over LIU in the regional semifinal round of the 2023 NCAA Women's Hockey Championship on Thursday night at the Class of 1965 Arena. 

Caroline Harvey, Britta Curl, Kirsten Simms, Maddi Wheeler, Casey O'Brien, Jesse Compher, Laila Edwards, Vivian Jungels each scored for the Badgers (26-10-2) in UW's largest victory in NCAA tournament history. 

Harvey got the Badgers on the board just over 13 minutes into the first period and Curl doubled the lead with a quick swipe to the back of the net. 

Simms extended the lead to 3-0 with just 10 seconds left in the first, finding the net mid-fall. 

LIU scored its first of the day at the beginning of the second frame, before Wheeler answered back with a power-play goal to make it 4-1. 

O'Brien scored on a 2-on-1 with Wheeler to extend the Badger advantage to 5-1 before Compher tacked on a power-play tally to give UW a 6-1 advantage after two periods. 

Edwards started off the third period with another score for the Badgers and Jungels continued the rally with UW's third power-play goal of the game. 

Compher extended the lead less than two minutes later with her second of the night to give Wisconsin the 9-1 advantage. 

Cami Kronish made six saves for her 18th win of the season. 

Three Notes of the Game
- The Badgers outshot LIU 59-7, including a 21-2 advantage in the opening frame.
- UW posted three power-play goals for the first time since tallying three against St. Cloud State on Jan. 22, 2021. 
- UW's nine goals tie for the most scored by the Badgers in the postseason. Wisconsin has scored nine goals during playoffs on three different occasions, last on Feb. 25, 2011 against St. Cloud State. 

Straight from the Rink
Head Coach Mark Johnson
On the upperclassmen taking charge:
"At this time of year, especially since for a lot of them it was their first NCAA tournament game, you look to your leadership and players that have been on this sort of stage before, whether it was with us or internationally with Team USA or Canada. Most of those kids are going to be a little bit more mentally comfortable than some of my freshmen, so it was nice to see that leadership come out and be comfortable playing, and obviously have some success."

On tonight's whole team effort:
"The entire third period we just rolled our four lines, nobody on our bench got extended minutes tonight. It was a nice opportunity to play in the rink we're going to be playing in again on Saturday. Everybody got an opportunity to play, everybody had a smile on their face and again, you're just looking to get another game. By winning tonight we get another game Saturday so we're looking forward to the challenge that's going to be in front of us Saturday afternoon."

Senior Jesse Compher
On Ten Badgers finding the score sheet tonight:
"I think it shows the depth we have on this team. We're playing our best hockey right now and this is the time we want to be playing that level of hockey. It's nice to see everyone get on the scoresheet like that and hopefully we can keep rolling."

On how the team is feeling after the win:
"I'd say we're pretty excited. Every girl in that locker room had a big smile on their face. We know what we're playing for on Saturday and we're ready to go. It's nice to see everyone have smiles on their faces after a big win and it'll bring us good momentum going into Saturday."

Up Next: The Badgers will take on third-seeded Colgate on Saturday in a 2 p.m. CT contest at the Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton, New York, in the regional final round of the 2023 NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship. Fans can watch the game live on ESPN+ or listen to the game on 100.9 FM.