(UW COMMUNICATIONS) MADISON – Marianne Picard and Cassie Hall scored two goals each to help the No. 1/2 Wisconsin women’s hockey team to an 8-1 win over Lindenwood to sweep the two-game set.
The Badgers (2-0-0) outshot Lindenwood (0-4-0) 55-12 on Saturday to complete the sweep after defeating the Lions, 12-0, on Friday.
The leadership team clicked on the game’s first power play as captain Casey O’Brien opened the scoring with captain Caroline Harvey and alternate captain Laila Edwards receiving assists.
The Badgers scored again on the power play to start the second period. A Lindenwood penalty carried 24 seconds into the second period, and Lacey Eden capitalized to score her third goal in the series.
Marianne Picard demonstrated her speed by carrying the puck out from center ice and skating by a Lindenwood defender before beating the goaltender on the pad side for Wisconsin’s third of the night.
Laila Edwards scored a goal after scoring in game one, finding some open space by the left face-off circle on a pass from Kristen Simms.
Cassie Hall also notched a goal in the second period on a cross-ice pass from Ava Murphy. Harvey scored her first of the season after a pass from Edwards found her with room to operate in the slot.
Wisconsin went into the third period with a 7-1 lead. Quinn Kuntz made her first career appearance for the Badgers, taking over goaltending duties from Ava McNaughton to start the third period. The Badgers tacked on one more goal in the third period, as Cassie Hall scored her second of the night.
O’Brien led the way with four points for UW while Harvey and Edwards each put three points on the scoresheet Saturday.
Three Notes of the Game
– O’Brien sits in fourth place in school history now in career assists with 121 helpers. The Milton, Massachusetts native is 17 back of Sara Bauer’s school record of 138 assists.
– Wisconsin outshot Lindenwood 115 to 26 over the weekend
– The Badgers opened their season with a sweep for the second season straight, after sweeping Lindenwood to open the 2023-24 campaign.
Straight from the Rink
UW head coach Mark Johnson
On the team’s desire to keep pushing:
“Everybody wants to score, and I keep reminding them if you got to play a 200-foot game. You have got to do things the right way, and if you do that, you’ll probably get some chances.”
On looking forward:
“Obviously there are things we need to improve on but in your opening weekend, you’re going to find a bunch of things to do and move forward in that direction”.
Redshirt Junior Marianne Picard:
On the strong start:
“It feels good to get a few goals under my belt. It boosts the confidence for sure, especially the whole team. So I think we’re ready for Boston College next weekend.”
On the freshmen:
“The freshmen have some energy, and they’re eager to learn, which is the only thing you can ask from a freshman. It’s nice to have a new, refreshing, positive energy and as a senior, it motivates me to keep going”
Junior Caroline Harvey:
On staying locked in:
“Obviously, at some points, there might be like an odd-man rush; the coach will reel us back in and enforce habits a lot, which is great.”
On sticking to the plan:
“We don’t want to get away from our game plan no matter who we are playing. Because down the road, when you’re in a really important game, the defense will stick into our habits, so it starts now, and we want to instill that in our game.”
