Wisconsin Badgers center Casey O'Brien (26) slides into the boards after being tripped on a breakaway by Minnesota Gophers defender Sydney Morrow (32) in the second period of a game Sunday, February 9, 2025, at LaBahn Arena in Madison, Wisconsin. Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Wisconsin women's hockey defense falters in Border Battle

Originally posted on Wisconsin Badgers on SI
By Kedrick Stumbris | Last updated Nov 1, 2025 2:20 PM ET

Top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey got off on the wrong foot in a two-game series against the No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers. In a matchup of the country's two most prolific scoring offenses, UW failed to hold UMN in check from wire-to-wire. Minnesota pulled away late for a 5-1 victory, its first win over its Border Battle rival in 11 tries.

“It’s a 60-minute game. It was a good game for 40 minutes,” Badgers head coach Mark Johnson said.

The Gophers (10-1-0, 6-1-0 WCHA) scored their handful of goals in the final 21:10, including four in the third period. It marked the first time Minnesota scored five goals on Wisconsin's home ice since 2013.

"This game will be super, like, interesting in the way of like, we need to focus on defense, too. Obviously, everyone focuses on defense but, I think this game [will be] a testament to who has better defense," Wisconsin forward Claire Enright said in a mid-week interview, previewing the series. "And because we all know everyone can score. Minnesota can score well. We can score well. Everyone can score. But it kind of all burns down on defense."

Unfortunately for the Badgers (10-1-0, 6-1-0 WCHA), they did not have the better defense on Friday night.

Wisconsin women's hockey doomed by defensive miscues

FINAL

For the first time since November 16th, 2024, the first time in 37 games, the #Badgers have lost.

No. 3 Minnesota upsets No. 1 Wisconsin 5-1

We'll see you back here tomorrow at 2 p.m. https://t.co/CVUns7bBvq pic.twitter.com/UpbXDKfjXq
— Badger Breakaway (@BadgerBreakaway) November 1, 2025

Between two breakaway opportunities and another broken defensive play on a faceoff inside the Wisconsin defensive zone, Minnesota scored three goals in five minutes and 40 seconds of game time. Across the end of the second and beginning of the third period, the Gophers scored on back-to-back shot attempts.

“A lot of different things went in there," Johnson said. "A lot of different mistakes were happening.”

Wisconsin was not short on scoring opportunities to widen its early lead. Cassie Hall scored early in the first period, her 11th goal in as many games this season, but the Badgers could not double their tally. Gophers goaltender Hannah Clark stopped all 23 shots she faced in the second period, giving the team in front of her a fighting chance.

“We had, whatever, five, six, seven, eight, real good looks to make it two-nothing, maybe three-nothing, and their goaltender made the saves that she needed to make,” remarked Johnson.

The Badgers look to showcase their resilience on Saturday, avoid back-to-back losses on home ice to Minnesota for the first time in 11 years, and get started on a new winning streak after a program-record 23-consecutive victories.

“If you’re a competitive team or a competitive coach or competitive players, you know, the sooner you get back at it, the better,” said Johnson. “And so, two o’clock is gonna come quick.

This article first appeared on Wisconsin Badgers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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