Wisconsin women’s hockey completes season sweep of Gophers with another dominant victory

Casey O’Brien had a goal and four assists to lead the top-ranked Badgers to a 6-1 win over the third-ranked Gophers on Sunday in Madison.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 9, 2025 at 9:01PM
Gophers women's hockey coach Brad Frost, pictured in 2022. His team has lost three straight games, including Sunday's 6-1 defeat at Wisconsin. (Tony Scott/Gophers Athletics)

Casey O’Brien had a goal and four assists, and the top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team completed a regular-season sweep of the No. 3 Gophers with a 6-1 victory Sunday at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wis.

The WCHA-leading Badgers (29-1-2, 23-1-2 WCHA), who won 8-2 on Saturday, also swept the Gophers in October at Ridder Arena and outscored them 23-6 in the four games this season. The Badgers have won nine of the past 10 meetings between the teams.

The Gophers (22-8-1, 16-7-1) have lost three in a row, getting outscored 21-6 in the three games. The streak started Feb. 1 with a 7-3 loss to Ohio State at Ridder Arena.

After a scoreless first period, the Badgers took control with four second-period goals, the first three in a span of less than four minutes. O’Brien, a fifth-year center from Shattuck-St. Mary’s, scored shorthanded to put the Badgers up 4-1 with 6 minutes, 11 seconds left in the second period.

Claire Enright, a sophomore from Lakeville South, and Vivian Jungels, a junior from Edina, each scored a goal for the Badgers, who are 16-0-2 in their past 18 games.

Emma Conner scored for the Gophers, who were outshot 43-25.

The Gophers play a home-and-home series with St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday before finishing the regular season Feb. 21-22 by hosting Minnesota Duluth.

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about the writer

Joel Rippel

News Assistant

Joel Rippel writes about sports for the Star Tribune.

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