The No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team shipped up to Schenectady, New York, for the first time since the Hilary Knight days back in 2007 to take part in the Ice Breaker Tournament, hosted by Union
College.
The Badgers barely broke a sweat, using a four-goal second period to beat Vermont by a score of 8-1 on Friday afternoon before shutting out the host school in the championship with a 4-0 win on Saturday.
Let’s start with the good.
Wisconsin (8-0 overall, 4-0 WCHA) took care of business. Fifth-year senior Lacey Eden recorded a three-goal weekend, as did juniors Kelley Gorbatenko and Cassie Hall. Hall actually opened the scoring and gets credit for a game-winning goal against Union, giving her bragging rights over her sister, Courtney, who is an assistant coach at Union.
With her assist in the second period on Saturday, senior defender Caroline Harvey became the first Badger blue liner with 150 career points—and with five months of hockey left, will likely set a bar that collects a ton of dust in the Wisconsin record books.
Eden was named tournament MVP, while Harvey and Hall made the All-Tournament team. Junior Ava McNaughton took Goaltender of the Tournament honors.
Now, the not so good.
Early in Saturday’s championship game, all-world forward Kirsten Simms took an awkward fall into the boards and remained down, requiring a stoppage of play. Simms was helped off the ice and headed directly up the tunnel, putting no weight on her left leg.
Coach Mark Johnson will provide updates as Simms is evaluated, but the Badgers could be without the most prolific point producer in women’s hockey for an extended period. Wisconsin is already missing last year’s NCAA goal scoring champion, as Laila Edwards is sidelined for at least the next few weeks with an MCL injury.
Fortunately, the Badgers have both the depth and star power to withstand injuries to two of the team’s best players, although there are truly no replacements for players like Simms and Edwards. We’ll see how Wisconsin responds at home the next two weeks with Minnesota State and a significant test against a Gopher team that is looking good.
