Wisconsin women's hockey: Badgers down St. Cloud State, 4-0

With a 4-0 win in St. Cloud on Friday afternoon, the Wisconsin Badgers extended both a 21-game road unbeaten streak and a 21-game winning streak against St. Cloud State.

According to redshirt senior Brittany Ammerman, it's preparation that helps the Badgers be so successful on the road.

"We just prepare well during the week. We’ve had a lot of road contests so far this year, so I think it’s something we’ve become used to and accustomed to," she said.

Senior assistant captain Karley Sylvester echoed those sentiments.

"I just think we prepare well. We come to the rink focused, we know what we need to get done. It’s sometimes hard to play on the road – you’re in front of your home crowd, who’s awesome, but we try to bring our own energy and that seems to be working for us," she said.

It was Wisconsin's fifth shutout of the season. The Badgers have allowed just 17 goals over 15 games, good for 1.13 goals allowed per game, third in the country at the time of publish. The four goals up the Badgers' goals per game to 4.53, second in the nation.

It's that prolific offense that Sylvester credits for her output in the assist column.

"It makes it easy to get those assists when people are putting those pucks away and everyone’s been able to do that this year, so I guess assists are a bonus that comes along with it," she said.

Once again, Wisconsin spread the scoring among four different players, though it was kept to the top two lines. The Badgers put the pressure on the Huskies in the first period.

Both players, who felt the pressure to score last season, love that the offense is so spread out this season.

"I feel we have four very strong lines – and even further than that. All four lines have been able to produce this year, so it’s nice to not have to rely on one line in particular and know that the other three can go out there and get it done as well," said Sylvester.

"It’s nice to have three or four lines that are clicking," said Ammerman.

Sylvester kept her frantic scoring apace as she opened it up for the Badgers less than four minutes into the game. On the power play, she received the puck dead center in front of the crease from Ammerman and Sylvester buried it in the net. Junior Courtney Burke had the second assist.

The prettiest play of the game came from freshmen Annie Pankowski and Emily Clark, who got a break away and headed to the net two-on-one. They tic-tac-toed the puck and the crisp passes ended with Pankowski putting it home right at the goal mouth. St. Cloud goalie Julie Friend had no chance. Sophomore Mellissa Channell fed the play and received the second assist.

Ammerman added a goal of her own when she tipped in a long shot that Burke threw on the net from past the right circle.

The second period was quiet for both teams. The Badgers weren't able to score, but out-shot the Huskies 19-1.

Senior captain Blayre Turnbull brought some third-period excitement when she five-holed Friend off a Sylvester pass. Ammerman was credited with the second assist, her third point of the night.

The Badgers finished their game before most of the country played on Friday, but at the moment, Sylvester is tied for first in the country with 14 assists. Her 21 points are most in the WCHA and third-best in the nation.

The three points for Ammerman give her 20 on the season, giving her second-place in the WCHA and fourth-place in the nation. Pankowski stands at 19 points, tied for third in the WCHA and fifth in the country.