Hunter Carries Badgers to 6-2 Women’s Hockey Win

Madison, Wis. - Frosh Meghan Hunter (Oil Springs, Ont.) notched her first career hat trick and added two assists to lead the sixth-ranked women’s hockey Badgers to a 6-2 win over St. Cloud State at the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum on Friday. Kendra Antony (Yorkton, Sask.) chipped in two goals to aid the Badger offense.
        The Badgers and Huskies were knotted at one at the first intermission. Antony got the Badgers and the game going with a goal at 12:51 of the first. Hunter flipped the puck ahead to Antony after Kerry Weiland (Palmer, Alaska) won the puck along the boards deep in her own zone.
        St. Cloud State evened the score at one at 15:05 when Kobi Kawamoto stole the puck at her own blue line and finished a short-handed breakaway.
        *I think St. Cloud came ready to play,* said interim head coach Trina Bourget. *We were kind of a little slow getting started, but once we got our feet going we played well and better as a team.*
        The Badger took the lead for good 12:14 into the second period when Hunter scored her first of the night, extending her goal and point-scoring streak to five games. Gretchen Anderson (Minneapolis, Minn.) made the play, rushing end-to-end before finding Hunter in the slot. Hunter faked SCSU goaltender Laura Gieselman and backhanded a shot into the net.
        *Gretchen Anderson had a great game,* commented Bourget. *She stepped up for us on defense and had a really nice rush and a great pass to set up Meghan Hunter for the second goal.*
        Nicole Uliasz (Perkasie, Penn.) extended the UW lead to 3-1, receiving a pass from Steph Millar (Hudson, Wis.) and shooting past a sprawled SCSU goalie at 14:33.
        In the third, Hunter would complete her hat trick with a power-play tally from Weiland at 12:14 and a goal in the last minute. She would first assist on the Badgers’ fifth goal at 15:17 that came from the stick of Antony. Hunter sent Michelle Sikich (Apple Valley, Minn.) into the St. Cloud zone and Antony converted Sikich’s rebound for the goal.
        The Huskies scored at 16:46 to make it a 5-2 game when Rachel Denner wristed a shot past UW goaltender Jackie MacMillan (Buffalo, Minn.) from the high slot. Briana Munyon got the assist.
        Wisconsin would close out the scoring when Hunter scored her third of the game and eighth of the season at 19:37. Hunter and Antony worked a give-and-go on a two-on-one for the score.
        *A great night for Meghan Hunter― being a part of five of the six goals,* Bourget said. *She just dominates out there and is a great leader on and off the ice.*
        MacMillan made 19 saves and improved to 4-1-0 with the win. Gieselman stopped 30 shots in the loss for St. Cloud.
        The Badgers (4-1-0, 2-1-0 WCHA) go for their second sweep of the season when they play host to the Huskies (2-3-0, 2-3-0) tomorrow at 2:05 p.m., at the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum.

Paul Capobianco
Assistant Women's SID
University of Wisconsin
P: 608-263-1983
F: 608-265-8051
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www.wisc.edu/ath/