Wisconsin Badgers
9-2-0, 5-2-0
University of St. Thomas
4-7-0, 2-7-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Thomas (MN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Wisconsin | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
November 14, 2026 | Women's Hockey
Wisconsin continues undefeated home-streak
MADISON, Wis. — The No. 3 Wisconsin women's hockey team (8-2-0, 4-2-0 WCHA) powered past the St. Thomas Tommies (4-6-0, 2-6-0 WCHA) at LaBahn Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Alternate captain Maggie Scanell scored first for the Badgers, finding the back of the net less than two minutes into the game. Captain Kelly Gorbatenko found the assist on the goal, earning her first point since Oct. 1 after missing games due to injury.
With 5:11 remaining in the first period, the Tommies responded, making it 1-1.
Taking back the lead, Scannell scored again off a pass from Emma Venusio with under four minutes to go.
To open the second period, the Tommies tied things up again. However, senior Cassie Hall came in clutch off a breakaway to make it 3-2.
Continuing the streak, sophomore Charlotte Pieckenhagen received the puck from alternate captain Laney Potter to give UW a 4-2 lead.
Collecting her first NCAA career goal, sophomore Rachel Gorbatenko made it 5-2 with Venusio on the assist. Rachel's sister Nicole Gorbatenko earned the secondary assist.
Just eight seconds into the third period, freshman Nela Lopušanová found the back of the net, breaking the program record for the fastest goal scored to start a period. Pieckenhagen garnered the assist before continuing the hot streak and scoring on the Wisconsin power-play.
Back at even-strength, sophomore Nicole Gorbatenko also found her first as a Badger to give UW an 8-2 lead.
Scoring the ninth goal for Wisconsin, McCarthy received the puck from Venusio.
Senior netminder Ava McNaughton tallied 22 saves in the victory.
Notes of the Game:
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Just eight seconds into the third period, Lopušanová tallied the sixth goal of the game, setting a new program record for the fastest goal scored to start a period. The previous record of 11 seconds was set by Lindsay Macy on Feb. 8, 2004.
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Sisters Nicole and Rachel Gorbatenko each tallied their first career goal in Saturday's game.
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UW remains perfect over St. Thomas, extending their all time record against the Tommies to 22-0-0.
Straight from the Rink
Head Coach Mark Johnson
On Cassie Hall's breakaway goal:
"She put a nice move on it, and for us, that was the start of a little trend…that made it 3-2. And then we were fortunate to get the fourth goal and the fifth goal and a couple of lucky bounces on that. When you have your defensive blue line in on a breakaway, you got a lot of time to think about it — so give her credit for putting it in."
On takeaways from the game:
"We scored a bunch of goals, but there's also gonna be some things that we can pick out and be a little more focused in some of those areas and understand what's happening within the game itself. Another learning opportunity."
Charlotte Pieckenhagen
On the scoring surge:
"It was a slow start. We haven't played in two weeks, so it was good to come back in the second period and just kind of hammer it to them; we can just play to our abilities."
Nela Lopušanová
On senior Cassie Hall:
"I mean Cassie is awesome, I'm glad to play with her. Every single time she has a breakaway, I just put my hands up and start celebrating because you know it's going in and it happened today."
Up Next: The Badgers will look to secure the sweep over the Tommies tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. CT at LaBahn Arena. Fans can watch the game live on B1G+.
