Senior Emily West scored two goals in her return to the line up as the Gophers defeated top-ranked Wisconsin 7-5 Friday night.
Cleared by team doctors to play late this week, West tallied two goals and an assist while jump-starting the Gophers’ offense to its highest single-game goal total of the season.
Wisconsin (8-1-0, 6-1-0 in the WCHA) held the Gophers (6-4-0, 3-4 in the WCHA) to 22 shots on goal, but the Gophers made the most of their opportunities, scoring on almost one third of their shots on net.
Junior Sarah Erickson and freshman Kelly Terry each added three points as eleven Gophers, including goalie Noora Raty, contributed a point.
After Wisconsin scored early in the first period, freshman Amanda Kessel evened the game at one as she boxed out Wisconsin’s Brittany Haverstock and fired the puck past Wisconsin goalie Alex Rigsby 5:43 through the first.
Kessel, who led the team in points coming into the game, did not play after the first period due to injury.
West added her first goal of the season 12:38 through the first as she collected the rebound off a shot by Terry and jammed the puck into the net.
Late in the first, Terry gathered a rebounded off Raty’s pads near the Gophers’ blue line, skated into the Badgers’ zone and fired a shot past an out of position Rigsby to give the Gophers a 3-1 lead.
Raty was credited with her first of two assists on the night.
West put the Gophers up 4-1 seven seconds into the second when she snuck a quick shot past Wisconsin’s second goalie of the evening, Becca Ruegsegger.
Wisconsin cut the Gophers’ lead to one on goals by Meghan Duggan and Carolyne Prevost late in the second period, but the Badgers failed to convert on three power play opportunities early in the third.
With just under ten minutes remaining, Erickson hustled past Wisconsin’s Kelly Jaminski and slapped the puck into the net for her second goal of the night, sealing the game for the Gophers.
The Gophers look to cut their deficit in the WCHA standings to six points as they wrap up the series tomorrow at 4:07.
