Ridder Arena was rocking Friday night when Molly Jordan scored in overtime for a 3-2 Gopher women’s hockey win over Wisconsin.
The Badgers quickly quieted a full house on Saturday afternoon.
Cassie Hall scored two of her three goals in the first period and Wisconsin went on to rout Minnesota 6-1. Edina’s Vivian Jungels added two goals. It’s the second-most goals allowed by the Gophers this season, trailing only a 7-2 loss on Nov. 1 at Wisconsin.
Chloe Primerano scored in the third period for Minnesota.
A weekend split was not surprising for a series between two of the top three teams in the country. Still, Saturday’s domination was shocking.
Wisconsin (24-2-2, 18-2-2 WCHA) is ranked No. 1, with its only losses coming to the third-ranked Gophers (23-5-0, 17-5-0), who had won 11 straight before Saturday.
It was clear early that streak would end.
Before the public address announcer could finish voicing a Minnesota penalty, the Badgers made it 1-0 with Hall scoring on a rebound 93 seconds into the game. In full control, the Badgers made it 2-0 midway through the frame when Jungels scored on a slap shot from low in the left circle.
A Minnesota turnover resulted in a 3-0 Wisconsin lead barely two minutes later when Hall and Kelly Gorbatenko perfectly converted a 2-on-0 opportunity.
The second period was no better for the home team.
Maggie Scannell, Hall and Jungels scored in the opening 12 minutes to make it 6-0, sending more than a few Minnesota fans to the exits.
One of the biggest rivalries in collegiate women’s hockey was played without top players from each squad who’ll be participating in the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Minnesota was missing forwards Abbey Murphy (USA), Josefin Bouveng (Sweden) and Tereza Plosova (Czech Republic), and defender Nelli Laitinen (Finland).
Wisconsin was missing four players who’ll be wearing red, white and blue in Italy: defenders Caroline Harvey and Laila Edwards, forward Kirsten Simms and goaltender Ava McNaughton. Forward Adéla Šapovalivová will represent the Czech Republic.
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