MADISON — It seems Wisconsin might have had an inkling that their series against St. Cloud State this weekend would be tight. KK Harvey said she practiced three-on-three situations, playing with Lacey Eden and Britta Curl. Those reps came in handy Saturday afternoon as Harvey took a puck from Eden at the half line and streaked up the far boards, past her defender before cutting in on net and beating Jojo Chobak short-side high to give No. 2 Wisconsin the 2-1 win over the 10th-ranked Huskies.
St. Cloud State put pressure on the Badgers from the first puck drop. They were dominating the home team in the faceoff circle over the first half of the period, at one point holding a 14-3 advantage. St. Cloud State coach Brian Idalski said he wasn’t aware of the numbers, but that Emma Gentry has been outstanding for his team in that regard in recent weeks.
“Wisconsin is a very good possession team and to let them have it off of every faceoff, it makes the game that much harder,” he said.
The Huskies took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission thanks to a funny bounce and deflection. Laura Zimmermann appeared to hit teammate Taylor Lind’s stick, causing the puck to go out in front and off the skate of UW forward Marianne Picard and in. From there, the game resembled a track meet with quick trips up and down the ice from both teams. Wisconsin outshot SCSU 12-7 in the frame, but couldn’t seem to muster too much dangerous or make a connection through the traffic the Huskies created in front of the net.
The Badgers outshot St. Cloud 18-9 in the second, but Chobak continued to be stalwart. She was helped by a defense that kept Wisconsin to the perimeter. After a long zone possession where they kept cycling the puck, Casey O’Brien hit Vivian Jungels across the ice. Jungels’ shot from distance found less traffic on the opposite side. Chobak made the initial save but the puck was loose in the crease and Maddi Wheeler poked it in to make it a 1-1 game.
Wheeler said she never felt frustration during the game or felt like they were playing from behind. She said if they weren’t getting opportunities, it might have been different, but she said the feeling on the bench was that the game-winning goal would come.
“I know last weekend we were really playing from behind, but I thought we had control this game. Obviously there’s things that we need to work on, but they’re a good team. Credit to them – they’re hard, they’re physical and they’re hard to play against,” said Wheeler.
The loss was the fourth in a row for St. Cloud and Idalski struggled after the game with how to keep his team motivated and giving their all week after week when they are executing their game plan and playing at their best, but coming out on the losing end against opponents like Ohio State and Wisconsin, who have exponentially more resources. It feels impossible and it’s difficult to feel like all the work is worth it, he said, clearly frustrated.
“We just have to work so hard to even be in the ballpark with the way that athletics are right now across the board. To not be able to get over the hump and know that you’re giving everything you have. That sucks. I’m just disappointed with the outcome because our kids are working hard and deserve a better fate here last couple of weekends,” said Idalski.
“I don’t think anyone can understand the emotional toll that takes going through for games like that,” he said.
“How do you keep your group still engaged in doing the work they have to do without getting the reward? That is super hard.”
The two teams close out their regular season series on Sunday at 4 PM central in Madison.
