VERONA, Wis. (Eagle's Nest) - Wisconsin’s Meaghan Mikkelson and Jasmine Giles lead the Badgers with three points apiece, one goal and two assists, in the Badgers 6-0 shutout victory over the Beavers Saturday afternoon at the Eagle’s Nest in Verona, Wis. The loss is the first time the Beavers have been shutout in back-to-back games this season and it is just the sixth time that the Beavers have been shutout in a weekend series in it’s eight year Division I era.

It took Wisconsin just 1:06 of the first period to get on the board. Erika Lawler netted her ninth goal of the season with help from Meaghan Mikkelson and Jasmine Giles to give the Badgers a early 1-0 lead. Lawler’s goal proved to be the eventual game winning goal.

Nikki Eckebrecht picked up a holding penalty at 2:54 of the period to give the Badgers it’s first power-play opportunity of the contest. Jasmine Giles capitalized on the man-advantage :26 seconds into the power-play for her sixth goal of the season. Assisting on the goal was Meaghan Mikkelson and Bobbi-Jo Slusar. Giles goal gave the Badgers a 2-0 lead just 3:20 seconds into the game.

Wisconsin continued the scoring in the second period when Angie Keseley netted her ninth goal of the season at 2:33 of the period to push the Badger lead to 3-0. Jasmine Giles picked up the lone helper on Keseley’s goal. Jinelle Zaugg picked up her team leading 23rd goal just :13 seconds after Keseley’s goal to give the Badgers a convincing 4-0 lead. Tia Hanson and Sara Bauer picked up the helpers on Zaugg’s goal.

Kelly Hart was called for hooking at 5:22 of the second period which gave the Badgers powerful offense another extra man opportunity. Meaghan Mikkelson capitalized on the Badgers fourth power-play opportunity :30 seconds into the power-play. Mikkelson’s goal was her tenth goal of the season. Phoebe Monteleone and Sara Bauer picked up the assists on the Badgers fifth goal of the afternoon.

Through two periods of play the Badgers held a 2-0 lead over the Beavers with a shot advantage of 33-to-14.

Wisconsin netted it’s third power-play goal of the contest at 17:49 of the third period to push it’s lead to 6-0. Angie Keseley netted her second goal of the contest with help from Phoebe Montelone and Erika Lawler. The Badgers would hold onto the 6-0 shutout and complete the weekend sweep over the Beavers.

Wisconsin goaltender Christine Dufour was solid in net for the Badgers as she stopped 25 of 25 shots faced in 60:00 minutes of work, improving her record to 14-0-1 on the season for the Badgers.
Emily Brookshaw stopped 34 of 40 shots faced in 60:00 minutes of work for the Beavers, with her record falling to 10-18-5 on the season.

The two teams combined for 13 minor penalties. Bemidji State took eight minor penalties for 16 minutes, while the Badgers took five minor penalties for 10 minutes. Bemidji State went 0-for-3 on the power-play with Wisconsin going 3-for-8 on the man-advantage.

With the loss Bemidji State drops to 1-30-1 all-time versus Wisconsin.

Bemidji State’s (11-18-5 / 9-15-4 WCHA) post-season action begins on February 23, when the Beavers will travel to Minneapolis, Minn. to take on the Golden Gophers or to Minnesota Duluth to take on the Bulldogs in a best-of-three series in the first round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) playoffs.

--beavers--