Oct. 16, 2004
[box score]
MADISON, Wis. - The game started according to plan for Bemidji State’s women’s hockey team, as the Beavers took a 1-0 lead late into the first period, but No. 4 Wisconsin had other ideas and exploded for four power-play goals in an 8-2 defeat of BSU on Saturday afternoon.
At 7:23 of the opening frame, sophomore forward Helena Tageson (Malmö, Sweden) scored a power-play goal to give the Beavers an early lead, but Sara Bauer knotted up the game with less than 90 seconds to play in the first period.
“We played real well for a period and a half, but we just couldn’t keep up with them the rest of the way,” BSU head coach Bruce Olson said.
Sophomore Kelly Hart (Ajax, Ontario) replied to two quick Badger goals early in the second period by burying her team-leading third goal of the season, cutting BSU’s deficit to 3-2, but Wisconsin’s Sharon Cole scored a backbreaker just 68 seconds later. Molly Engstrom added a power-play goal to give the Badgers a 5-2 lead after two stanzas, and an early third-period goal by Bauer put the game out of reach for the Beavers.
“They’re a very good hockey team,” Olson said. “They’re big, strong, fast, and they’ve got four good lines coming at you. They’re the real deal.”
Wisconsin, which has now netted 27 goals in its first three games this season, chased Bemidji State’s starting goaltender and defending USCHO/ITECH Division I Women’s Defensive Player of the Week, junior Jill Luebke (Neenah, Wis.), with its seventh goal late in the third period. Freshman Emily Brookshaw (Webster, Wis.) saw her first collegiate action and allowed one goal on four Badger shots.
Freshman forward Tara Hiscock (Bemidji, Minn.) assisted on Tageson’s goal in the first period, earning the local product her first point of her collegiate career.
The Badger duo of Bauer and Lindsay Macy combined for two goals and five assists. The two now have an obscene total of 22 points in their first three games of the 2004-05 season.
Bemidji State will attempt to stop Wisconsin’s offense on Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. Game time is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
