Gophers defeat No. 1 Badgers in women's hockey, stay in first in WCHA

Backup goalie Sydney Scobee made 37 saves for Minnesota.

January 20, 2019 at 4:08AM
Gophers Emily Brown (2), Taylor Williamson (7) and Sophie Skarzynski (5)
Gophers Emily Brown (2), Taylor Williamson (7) and Sophie Skarzynski (5) (Mike Nelson — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Sydney Scobee made 37 saves and Nicole Schammel scored two goals as the Gophers beat Wisconsin 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena in women's hockey to hold onto first place in the WCHA race.

After losing 2-1 to the Badgers in the first game of the series between the nation's top two teams, No. 2 Minnesota (22-3-1, 12-3-1 WCHA) had just a one-point lead in the standings; now it's four, 37-33.

"An awesome game in a great atmosphere," Gophers coach Brad Frost said. "Just loved the compete of our team today. It was very different than yesterday. We were much more composed, we were able to break the puck out better, generate more offensively."

Schammel's first goal, at 12 minutes, 38 seconds of the middle period, gave the Gophers a 2-0 lead. No. 1 Wisconsin (21-3, 11-3) answered just 21 seconds later when Sophie Shirley scored.

Schammel, a senior forward from Red Wing, restored the two-goal lead just over six minutes into the third with her ninth goal of the season.

The Gophers, despite being outshot 14-8 in the opening period, took a 1-0 lead on Sophie Skarzynski's third goal of the season in the 16th minute. Schammel had one of the assists.

Scobee, a junior who played for Breck in high school and then in college at Vermont for two seasons before transferring to Minnesota, improved to 7-2-1.

"Great performance by Sydney Scobee in net and some big goals by Nicole Schammel and that line," Frost said. "We made some changes to our lines and seemed to produce."

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