Sophomore Presley Norby scored with 5:16 remaining to keep top-ranked Wisconsin’s season perfect with a 3-2 win at Minnesota.
“I think we all really wanted to win this game,” she said. “We worked really hard. I think that [tying goal by the Gophers] really opened our eyes, so we were like, ‘Alright, let’s get back to what we know how to do.'”
The Wisconsin (11-0-0, 5-0-0-0 WCHA) forecheck came alive after the hosts had knotted the game, 2-2. Norby corralled a puck below the left circle, and with her back to the net, threw a backhand on goal that eluded Sidney Peters.
“One of our goals is to just always put pucks on net,” Norby said.
For the game, the Badgers only managed 17 shots on goal, and Sophie Skarzynski was able to tie pull the Gophers (5-3-1, 4-2-1-0 WCHA) level when she converted on a power play at 6:54 of the final frame.
“I’ve grown up playing with Cara [Piazza] since I was like 10, so Cara and I have pretty good chemistry,” Skarzynski said. “I was just crashing weak side, backdoor, and Cara had a good heads-up play and I just one-timed it. We were practicing that in the pregame skate.”
The Badgers and Gophers battled for 130 minutes in a series in February in which each team scored only once. It took less than eight minutes to collectively exceed that production.
Sophia Shaver lifted a puck behind Sidney Peters just 33 seconds in to get Wisconsin off and running.
“One of our goals today was to just come out fast and keep it going throughout the game,” said Norby, who had the primary assist on the play.
Lindsay Agnew buried a rebound to tie it up three minutes later, her first tally of the season.
“It felt pretty good,” she said. “Hopefully, it’s the monkey off the back and the floodgates kind of open up for me.”
Baylee Wellhausen found daylight over Peters’ shoulder on the short side when she took a pass from Abby Roque on a rush to put Wisconsin back up, 2-1, and it stayed that way until the third period.
Kristen Campbell made 25 saves to get the win.
“I loved how our team played,” Minnesota coach Brad Frost said. “Not a lot of complaints. I thought we got better as the game went on and opportunities to score and to win the game, and we didn’t. Overall, really encouraged with where we’re at right now.”
The series concludes Sunday with a 5:07 p.m. faceoff at Ridder Arena.
