Wisconsin women's hockey survives challenge with huge test at Ohio State next

MADISON – After three lopsided games and then one that stayed too close for too long, life is about to get that much more difficult for the Wisconsin women’s hockey team.

The top-ranked Badgers, looking for their third straight NCAA title and 10th overall, wrapped up the pre-conference portion of their schedule Oct. 2 with a 4-1 comeback victory over Boston University at LaBahn Arena.

Next comes a road series Oct. 9-10 against archrival Ohio State in which Wisconsin will be without at least three important players.

“We’ll think about that Sunday,” coach Mark Johnson said. “It’s been a busy couple of weeks.

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“It’s early in the process, and so a bunch of things are coming at us early on, and so how do you respond? Everything’s been really positive in that aspect.”

After a 7-0 Wisconsin victory in the home opener a night earlier, BU led more than half the second game and kept it tied for nearly 12 minutes more.

Terriers freshman Lo Lachapelle scored with five seconds left on a 5-minute power play 15:18 into the game. Badgers senior center Cassie Hall finally evened the score midway through the second, and her second goal of the game – one she thought Finley McCarthy actually tipped in – put UW on top. Junior forward Maggie Scannell had the first assist on both of Hall’s goals.

Then Slovakian freshman forward Nela Lopušanová, who scored twice in the series opener, added her fourth goal as a Badger barely three minutes later. Laney Potter hit an empty net from long range with just over four minutes remaining, leaving UW at 4-0 and BU at 0-4.

“We had chances right off the start of the game, and I think it really tested us,” Hall said. “In between the second and third period, we kind of settled down, played as a team. Not everyone can be the hero; [we] talked about that, and finally with patience we were able to put, what, three more in.”

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While the Badgers play the Buckeyes in a matchup of the past four NCAA title games, defenders Ava Murphy and Emma Venusio and forward Rosalie Tremblay will be in training camp with the Canadian national team.

Left wing Kelly Gorbatenko, the team’s captain, left the game after being hit on the wrist by a puck and her status is unclear. Gorbatenko, a senior who has never missed a game as a Badger, did stay in the bench area after being hit.

Ohio State started its season on the road with of 2-1 victories over Penn State and a Friday-Saturday WCHA series at St. Thomas.

Wisconsin and Ohio State have combined to take the past seven NCAA championships with UW winning in 2019, ’21, ’23, ’25 and ’26, and they’ve played each other for the title the past four seasons.

In the post-COVID era, UW holds a 17-16-1 advantage in the series but has gone 4-8 in Columbus. Seven of the games in that span have gone beyond 60 minutes.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin women’s hockey survives challenge with huge test at Ohio State next