Turns out there still is some magic in the University of Wisconsin women's hockey program after all.

Geena Prough twice won faceoffs in the offensive zone that resulted in goals in a pivotal second-period sequence as the ninth-ranked Badgers handed No. 2 Minnesota its first loss of the season, 4-2 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game Friday afternoon before 1,905 at the Kohl Center.

With Prough serving as the catalyst, Emily Kranz scored the tying goal at 14 minutes, 54 seconds of the second period and Brooke Ammerman followed with the go-ahead score with just 2.6 seconds left in the frame.

Becca Ruegsegger made 20 of her 26 saves over the last two periods for defending national champion Wisconsin (4-3, 4-3 WCHA), which twice rallied from one-goal deficits in winning a series opener for the first time this season.

"I knew they were undefeated, and I knew that they had been pretty successful in watching them on tape," UW interim coach Tracey DeKeyser said. "They didn't look like the same team as we had watched on video previously, so I think mentally we got into their heads early on, and it helps."

Sarah Erickson scored on a rebound to give the Gophers (8-1, 6-1) a 1-0 lead at 5:14 of the first period, but Wisconsin responded with Jasmine Giles' first goal of the season at 7:12.

Minnesota recaptured the lead quickly as Laura May went coast-to-coast at 8:51 for a 2-1 advantage.

But the Badgers turned the tide in the second period, with Kranz registering her first point of the season at 14:54 and Ammerman going five-hole on a weave from the end line to put the Gophers in the hole for the first time this season.

Wisconsin kept the pressure on, as junior Mallory Deluce scored on a wrist shot from the right circle just 53 seconds into the third frame for a key insurance goal.

"We started to step up and take away their space," Giles said. "They haven't played an opponent like us all year, we haven't played one like them, so they weren't used to that at all. Thankfully they didn't return the favor, they gave us time and space and everything. It was really nice to see our defense step up like that."

Wisconsin tallied a season-high of 43 shots while keeping the Gophers scoreless over the final 51 minutes. Ruegsegger made a pivotal stop on a breakaway.

The Badgers' woeful power play went 0-for-7 but killed three Gophers advantages to remain perfect on the penalty kill in 32 chances this year.

The series concludes Sunday with a 2 p.m. game at the Kohl Center.

Related

• UW women's hockey sweeps No. 2 Minnesota
• UW women's hockey: Robert Morris stuns No. 6 Badgers

Login to post your comment. If you don't have an account, you may register for one.