EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The #6 ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's hockey team began play in the 2024 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) O'Brien Cup playoffs on Friday with game one of their semifinal matchup against UW-Superior. A flurry of goals early on and a natural hat trick from
Sophie Rausch (Sr. – Fergus Falls, Minn.) powered the Blugolds to a 6-2 victory.
Madisyn Krumholz (Fr. – Burnsville, Minn.) got the scoring started for UW-Eau Claire at the 6:54 mark of the opening period on a rebound in front of the crease to give UWEC an early 1-0 lead. Later in the period,
Sophie Rausch netted her first goal of the afternoon after she crossed the blue line, walk into the slot, and fired a wrist shot past the Superior netminder to increase the Blugold lead to 2-0. Rausch wasn't done there as she recorded her second goal of the game on a breakaway just three minutes later. After receiving a breakout pass from
Maddie Hulter (Fr. – Fergus Falls, Minn.), Rausch went the length of the ice with speed, deked out the UWS goalie, and slid the puck into an empty net to give Eau Claire a 3-0 before the first intermission.
The second period found the game's first penalties for both sides in the first half of the frame. Despite not capitalizing on their first powerplay of the afternoon, UWEC found their seventh shorthanded goal of the season as
Sophie Rausch completed her natural hat trick with a shot to the top shelf while the Blugolds were down a player. UW-Superior converted on the same special teams opportunity to send UWEC into the second intermission with a 4-1 lead.
The final period of play showcased more Eau Claire dominance as
Sophie Rausch tallied her fourth goal of the afternoon to break the WIAC tournament single game scoring record. Rausch's 27
th goal of the season held assists from
Maddie Hulter and
Sadie Long (Jr. – Farmington, Minn.) as the momentum continued to tilt in the Blugolds' favor.
Ellie Andersen (Jr. – Fergus Falls, Minn.) recorded UWEC's final goal of the afternoon during a scrum in front of the net as Eau Claire earned the semifinal victory in game one, 6-2.
Alexa Backmann (Fr. – Saint Michael, Minn./Rogers) stopped 13 of the 15 shots she faced in her 12
th win of the season. Backmann is now 12-4-0 on the year.
The Blugolds (20-6-0, WIAC 9-3-0) will be back at Hobbs Ice Arena for game two of the semifinal series with UW-Superior on Saturday, February 24
th. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at
Blugolds.com or on our app,
Blugold Sports.
