MADISON, Wis. – Six different Badgers lit the lamp to help the No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team to a 6-1 victory against St. Thomas at LaBahn Arena on Friday. 

The Badgers (14-1-0, 10-1-0 WCHA) outshot St. Thomas (5-9-1, 2-8-0-1-1 WCHA) 43 to 13 to earn their 14th victory of the season. 

Claire Enright, Kirsten Simms and Lacey Eden tallied a goal in the first period while Cassie Hall, Kelly Gorbatenko and Finley McCarthy recorded a goal in the remaining two periods. Casey O'Brien recorded two helpers to tie Sara Bauer's school assist record of 138 assists.

Three Badgers scored in the first period to give the Badgers a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Just over three minutes into the period, Sarah Wozniewicz skated into the offensive zone on a two-on-two and passed it over to Enright who snapped the puck past the pad of St. Thomas netminder Dani Strom. 

The Badgers scored about three minutes later. On an odd-player rush, O'Brien found Simms wide-open across the slot who one-timed it into the net. With just over a minute to play in the first, Tommie's Ilsa Lindaman took a tripping penalty, and the Badgers capitalized on the subsequent power play. O'Brien found Eden out in front who backhanded the puck past Strom to give the Badgers a 3-0 advantage.

Hall helped the Badgers to a four-goal lead in the second period. On a three-on-two rush, Eden sent a pass from near the boards to Hall outside the crease who tucked the puck under the pads of the St. Thomas netminder and into the net. The Tommies got a goal back on a delayed Badger penalty as UW led 4-1 after 40 minutes. 


Gorbatenko extended the Badgers lead with her fifth goal of the season. Ava Murphy sent a pass forward to Gorbatenko on yet another Badger rush, and Gorbatenko took a snapshot beating Strom glove side. McCarthy extended Wisconsin's lead to 6-1 with six and a half minutes to play. McKayla Zilisch created a turnover behind the net and passed it out in front for McCarthy to finish off. That marks Bemidji State transfer Zilisch's first point as a Badger.

Notes of the Game

• With two assists on the night, Casey O'Brien tied Sara Bauer's school record of 138 career assists.
• The game marked the 10th Badger game this season where they've scored five or more goals and 10th game they've won by at least a four-goal margin.
• Wisconsin has allowed one or less goals in 10 games this season.

Straight from the Rink
Head coach Mark Johnson
On rebounding after last weekend's loss at Ohio State:
"You gotta be excited to play. You've gotta have good energy. I thought playing at home might create some of that. It took us until the third period to finally get going. You learn from every experience whether it's good or bad."

On Finley McCarthy stepping in as center:
"Most of her shifts were really good. It started because you win the faceoff, and now you have the puck and you can do something with it. Her line got rewarded in the third period with a nice goal. Sometimes you're asked to step up and take minutes in a different position and she did a nice job."

Junior Kirsten Simms
On the strong start to the game:
"I think early in the game it started off with some good intensity. I think our third period was our best period, and we finished out the way we wanted to. That was our goal that period to bring our competitive level back."

On the offensive explosion:
"Everything just feels like it's clicking. We get a lot of offensive zone time, and I just feel like everyone is moving and everyone is in the play, and that's when you know that's when everyone in the team is engaged, in the offensive zone specifically. We are getting shots on the net, getting rebounds, picking up loose pucks, and we're in our groove almost."

Up Next: The Badgers face off against St. Thomas in game two of the series at LaBahn Arena on Saturday. The puck drop is set for 4 p.m. Fans can listen to Paul Braun and Mark Greenhalgh on 1070 The Game, or watch on Big Ten Plus.