(UW ATHLETICS) CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Forwards Casey O’Brien and Kelly Gorbatenko both enjoyed four-point nights to lift the No. 1 Wisconsin women’s hockey team to a 7-1 win over Boston College on Friday evening at Conte Forum.
The Badgers (3-0-0) raced off to a 2-0 lead and never looked back en route to claiming their 10th-straight win over the Eagles (1-1-0).
Fifth-year forward O’Brien got things going for UW midway through the first. Sophomore forward Kelly Gorbatenko rushed the puck down the ice before passing to her left to junior forward Kirsten Simms. Simms passed back to the middle of the ice to O’Brien, who let a wrist shot fly from the slot to put home her second goal of the season.
The UW co-captain doubled the Wisconsin lead thanks to another stellar assist from Simms to give UW a 2-0 lead after the first period. Simms skated near the front of the Eagles’ net before passing behind her to O’Brien. O’Brien then fired the puck from the left side of the net and in to make it two goals for the Badgers.
Simms tallied her second goal of the year early in the second period. High in the zone, she made a backward pass to O’Brien to keep the puck in the Badgers’ offensive territory. O’Brien then passed to junior defenseman Vivian Jungels, who slid the puck to Simms in front of the net before the junior flicked the puck into the back of the net.
Forty seconds later, junior forward Laila Edwards found the back of the net to give UW a 4-0 lead early in the second period. Sophomore forward Cassie Hall passed from the top of the right faceoff dot to Edwards in the middle of the zone. Edwards fired a clean shot from the slot to make it 4-0, Badgers.
Edwards later scored her second of the evening while UW was killing a five-minute penalty off a feed from O’Brien to lift Wisconsin to a 5-0 advantage after 40 minutes.
Thirty-four seconds into the third period, the Eagles got on the board with a shot from Abby Newhook.
Junior defenseman Caroline Harvey scored her second of the year a minute later on a long shot from the blue line to regain the Badgers’ five-goal lead.
With 12 minutes remaining in the contest, sophomore forward Claire Enright tallied her first goal of the season off of a feed from Gorbatenko to make it 7-1, Wisconsin.
Sophomore goaltender Ava McNaughton earned her third win of the season, making 14 saves in net.
Notes of the Game
– Wisconsin has outscored its opponents 11-0 in the first period so far this season.
– O’Brien now has 198 career points and is two points away from becoming the seventh Badger. to record 200 career points.
– O’Brien notched her 20th career game-winning goal, which ranks sixth in school history.
– Gorbatenko set a career-high with four assists.
Straight from the Rink
UW Head Coach Mark Johnson
On the Badgers’ performance tonight
“For game three, being on the road, I think a bunch of it was sloppy. That was partly our fault, and the other team played a little more aggressive as a group. Overall, it was a good effort. We just move forward and try to make some improvements and get after it again tomorrow night.”
On the freshmen’s first road game
“They did well. Everybody looks comfortable, everybody’s pushing hard. It’s three games into the season, and we just have to keep making strides in a positive direction.”
Fifth-year forward Casey O’Brien
On starting the season with three-consecutive wins
“It feels great. I think right now it’s all about finding ourselves and learning who works well together and what our team identity is. I think after a few big games, we’re starting to really come into our own.”
On playing back home in Massachusetts
“It’s super fun. I have a ton of extended family here tonight who can’t always make it out to Wisconsin. It’s great to play in front of them and see some of my younger cousins who are out there giving high fives in the tunnel. It’s a really cool moment. I wasn’t sure that we were going to get this opportunity to play in front of them.”
On preparing for Saturday’s game
“I assume that they’re going to come back and play their hardest. They’ll be giving it all they’ve got. I think we can’t take them lightly. We can’t go into it thinking about the first game, we just need to start over and expect their best game. It’s a whole new day, a whole new game. We can’t take anything from this game into the next one.”
Up Next: Wisconsin will wrap up its series with Boston College on Saturday night with a 5 p.m. CT tilt against the Eagles.
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