After a week off, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team was defeated by the second-ranked New Hampshire Wildcats, losing Saturday 2-1 and 2-1 on Sunday.
On Saturday, Wisconsin led in the second period 1-0 after freshman forward Hilary Knight scored on a power play for her fifth goal of the season. Sophomore forward Jasmine Giles notched an assist on the play, giving her 10 points on the season, the fifth Badger to reach that mark in the 2007-’08 campaign.
The Wildcats retaliated in the third period, as senior forward Leah Craig was found open in front of Wisconsin goalie Jessie Vetter. Craig beat the junior netminder for her fourth goal of the season and the equalizer.
With 4:01 left in the third period, freshman defenseman Julie Marty notched the first goal of her career, scoring from the left circle for the game-winner.
The Badgers failed to score for the rest of the contest as the Wildcats beat the Badgers for the fifth time in program history.
On sunday, Wisconsin continued its search for its first-ever win against New Hampshire, but once again could not stop the Wildcats as they completed the sweep of the Badgers.
Senior defenseman Martine Garland scored her first goal of the season under two minutes into the game to give New Hampshire a 1-0 lead.
Sophomore forward Kyla Sanders tied the game in the third with her eighth goal of the season.
Minutes later, Garland once again scored for New Hampshire to give the Wildcats a 2-1 advantage. Her goal would prove to be the game-winner, as the Badgers failed to score again despite three power plays in the final period.
Over the two games, Vetter made 44 saves after she returned from playing in the Four Nations Cup in Sweden.
Kayley Herman, New Hampshire’s freshman goaltender stopped 41 shots on the weekend as she beat the two-time defending champions in her toughest battle yet.
Wisconsin drops to 9-4-1 on the season, while New Hampshire improved to 11-2-0.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report
Analysis
The Badgers will lose their No. 1 overall spot to the Wildcats when the polls are released Monday. However, Wisconsin is unlikely to fall beyond the second position in the USCHO.com poll, as neither No. 2 Mercyhurst (which entered the weekend tied with New Hampshire) nor No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth swept this weekend.
Wisconsin has displayed difficulties scoring this season compared to last; it had tallied 64 goals by this point last season compared to this season’s 49.
Head coach Mark Johnson switched up his top two lines on Sunday, as he inserted junior center Erika Lawler and sophomore forward Meghan Duggan on the first line with senior winger Jinelle Zaugg. Freshman center Mallory Deluce and Knight were shifted down to the second line to play with junior forward Angie Keseley.
The Badgers will try to take advantage of Bemidji State (0-7-1 WCHA, 1-9-2 overall) this weekend as they attempt to regain some of its offense, which has scored only seven goals in its last four games, all against ranked opponents.
