DULUTH, Minn. – The No. 2 Wisconsin women's hockey team scored four unanswered goals in the third period, capped off by a Kirsten Simms game-winning goal, to take down No. 7 Minnesota Duluth, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon at AMSOIL Arena. 

The Badgers (22-4-0, 16-4-0-0-1-0 WCHA) earned the program's first win while trailing by three or more goals in the third period while en route to complete a road sweep against the Bulldogs (13-10-2, 10-9-0-1-0-0 WCHA). 

The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, but the period was pretty even with both teams registering 11 shots on goal. 

UMD doubled their lead early in the second slate, before adding another to make it a 3-0 game. 

Casey O'Brien scored her second of the weekend to make it a 3-1 game, but UMD added a power-play goal late in the period to take a 4-1 lead into the second intermission. 

The Badgers came out firing in the final 20 minutes, starting with a power-play goal from Lacey Eden, before Cassie Hall made it a one-goal game just 30 seconds later. 

Unsatisfied with just one goal, Eden lit the lamp once again less than three minutes after her first goal to tie things up. 

No stranger to game-winning goals at AMSOIL Arena, Simms, who posted the winning tally in the 2023 NCAA Championship game against Ohio State last March,  scored Wisconsin's fourth-unanswered goal with just over a minute left to solidify the comeback. 

Ava McNaughton stopped 27 of the shots she faced to pick up her 11th win. 

Three Notes of the Game
- Going into Saturday's game, the Badgers were 0-24 when trailing by three or more after two periods. For the first time in school history, UW overcame the three-goal deficit to secure the win. 
- Wisconsin forwards Casey O'Brien and Kirsten Simms have been an offensive force recently, with O'Brien scoring a point in 11-straight games and Simms in 10-straight. 
- It marks the 16th time this season the Badgers have scored five or more goals in a game. 

Straight from the Rink
Head Coach Mark Johnson
On changing the momentum after being down 4-1:
"I give the players a lot of credit, we were down 4-1. You get the next goal, you can change the momentum and we did a nice job of that. Ava (McNaughton) made some real nice saves on the power play and kept the game within reach. The momentum shifted and we capitalized, and it was a good way to win."

Junior Lacey Eden
On shifting the momentum in the final period:
"We came in, he kind of calmed us down a little bit. They had been playing a super physical game and just giving it to us, and our main goal was to sort of step up and give it back to them. We're a team that runs off of momentum and once we got a good bounce, it just kept coming."

Sophomore Kirsten Simms
On the team's full effort to overcome the deficit:
"It just shows you how close of a group we have. When we came together between the second and the third, we knew coming out there that we weren't going to take losing for an answer. That's exactly what we did, we came out there from the start and gave a push. We battled through some penalties and then sealed it out with our game and finished that one out."

On keeping the energy in the final games of the season:
"This just shows the push that we're going to have at the end of the season, especially as we get into these bigger games. It shows the depth we have and the passion that we have in these games, and that we're going to throw whatever at these teams and not take no for an answer."

Up Next: The Badgers return to LaBahn Arena for a Saturday-Sunday series against No. 10 St. Cloud State. Puck drop on Saturday is at 3 p.m. with Sunday's series finale to start at 4 p.m. Both games are sold out.