No. 1 Wisconsin turns unstoppable, hands No. 3 Gophers a 5-0 loss in women’s hockey

After being held in check for two periods, the top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team, which leads the nation in scoring, scored four times in the third period in a 5-0 victory over the No. 3 Gophers on Friday at Ridder Arena.

The Badgers (7-0, 3-0 WCHA), who went into the game averaging 7.7 goals per game, scored four times in a five-minute span to break the game open. The victory was their fourth straight — and fifth in the past six games — over the Gophers.

Badgers forward Cassie Hall opened the scoring with 3 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the first period. The Badgers outshot the Gophers 24-11 in the first two periods.

Three minutes into the third, Finley McCarthy’s goal began the Badgers’ flurry. Less than three minutes later Casey O’Brien and Laila Edwards scored 16 seconds apart to extend the Badgers’ lead to 4-0. Maggie Scannell scored with 12:20 remaining to make it 5-0.

“Really disappointing,” said Gophers coach Brad Frost. “We’re one-nothing going into the third, and in six minutes they score four goals and blow the whole thing open. Obviously, we got to be better in all facets, and I expect that we’ll do that tomorrow.”

Wisconsin has scored at least five goals in each of its seven games this season.

The Badgers outshot the Gophers (4-2-1, 0-2-1) 32-18 including 24-11 in the first two periods. In their first six games, the Gophers had outshot opponents 209-103.

The Gophers were 0-for-4 on the power play, including 0-for-3 in the third period.

Badgers goalie Ava McNaughton had 18 saves to earn her third shutout of the season.

The teams will conclude the series 3 p.m. Saturday.