MADISON, Wis. - The University of New Hampshire women's ice hockey team fell to Wisconsin by a score of 5-0 Sunday afternoon. The loss drops the Wildcats to 3-4-0 on the year while the Badgers improve to 5-3-2 overall.
Freshman Alexis Crossley (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) tallied the first shot of the game, but was denied in her attempt by Badger goalie Alex Rigsby. Megan Armstrong (Edina, Minn.) and Jessica Jessica Hitchcock (LaSalle, Ontario) notched back-to-back shots just minutes into the first period. Brianna Decker notched the first goal of the game on a power play at the 8:46 mark in the first period of play. Courtney Burke and Saige Pacholok assisted Decker on the play. At the end of the first period, the score was 1-0 in favor of Wisconsin.
New Hampshire outshot Wisconsin in the second period by a margin of 10-9. Courtney Burke tallied the second goal of the game with 12:10 left in the second period while Madison Packer made it 3-0 six minutes later. Jordan Brickner assisted Burke while Pacholok and Katarina Zgraja notched assists on Packer's goal. UNH netminder Vilma Vaattovaara (Veikkola, Finland) made seven saves in the period.
Decker notched her second goal of the game at 2:20 in the third period on an unassisted play while Karley Sylvester notched the fifth goal for Wisconsin with 13:29 remaining in the game on a power play. Burke and Decker tallied assists on the play. Nicole Gifford (Ennismore, Ontario) tallied a pair of shots-on-goal in the period, but both were defended by Rigsby. At the end of the third period, the Badgers secured a 5-0 win.
Vaattovaara got the decision in net for the Wildcats after making 27 saves on 32 shots faced. Her record now stands at 3-4-0. Rigsby made saves on all 21 shots she faced from the Wildcat offense. Her record improves to 5-3-2. New Hampshire was 0-for-3 on the power play while Wisconsin was 2-for-4 with the advantage. The Badgers outshot the 'Cats, 32-21.
New Hampshire returns to the ice Friday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. when it hosts St. Lawrence for a pair of games at the Whittemore Center Arena.