Press release via Wisconsin Athletics.

DULUTH, Minnesota — For the third-straight season, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team proved to be the cream of the crop in the toughest conference in women’s college hockey, as the No. 2 Badgers defeated Minnesota Duluth, 5-0, on Friday and claimed the league’s regular-season title.

After the Badgers (27-3-1, 18-2-1-1 WCHA) raced out to a 3-0 lead against the Bulldogs (12-14-3, 8-11-2-2 WCHA) in the first period, the group never looked back and cruised to its shutout victory.

It took freshman Caitlin Schneider just four minutes into the first period before she capitalized on a 3-on-1 opportunity for the game’s first goal. Just one minute later, sophomore Maddie Rowe tacked on her seventh goal of the year to give UW an early 2-0 lead.

With less than a minute left to play in the opening frame, Lauren Williams lit the lamp for her third goal of this season and boosted UW’s lead to 3-0 through the first 20 minutes of play. The Badgers outshot UMD, 12-3, in the first period alone.

In the second period, Presley Norby fired the puck top shelf to lift UW to a 4-0 lead heading into the second intermission.

In the third period, it was Baylee Wellhausen who capped off the scoring with her seventh goal of the season.

2015-16. 2016-17. 2017-18. Congrats to @BadgerWHockey, the back-to-back-to-back #WCHA regular season champions! ? ? ? #Badgers #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/AdAbB2rYId

— WCHA Women's Hockey (@WCHA_WHockey) February 10, 2018

Play Of The Game

Sophomore goaltender Kristen Campbell made several stellar saves en route to her NCAA-leading 10th shutout of the year, including a fantastic stop early in the third period. Campbell ultimately stopped all 17 shots she faced on the night.

Three Notes Of The Game

1. For the first time in school history, Wisconsin has claimed three-straight WHCA regular season titles. The only other team to accomplish that feat was Minnesota.

2. As the No. 1 seed in the upcoming WCHA tournament, Wisconsin will not host a first-round playoff series Feb. 23-25 and will automatically advance to the 2018 WCHA Final Faceoff, March 3-4, at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. UW will play in the semifinals of the league tournament on March 3 in a 2 p.m. contest.

3. After scoring three times in the opening frame, Wisconsin is now outscoring its opponents, 40-6, in the first period. UW’s +34 goal differential in the period is the best in the NCAA.

Straight From The Rink

UW head coach Mark Johnson

On the game:

“We had a good week of practice. We wanted to do a couple things to get off to a fast start. Obviously when you score, it creates a little energy. A lot of the little things that we did last week, we got rewarded for tonight. The tough thing is when you play well and you don’t score, things are a little frustrating. Overall, it was a good effort.”

On winning the WCHA regular-season title:

“I congratulated the group after the game. It’s a tough trophy to win. The teams that win it have to be consistent and they have to improve over the course of the season. This group was able to clinch it tonight, so congratulations to them. They certainly did that.”

Senior Baylee Wellhausen

On winning a third-straight league title:

“It goes to show you how hard we’ve worked all season. Obviously, we had our obstacles with last weekend not going our way (getting swept), but I think our team did a good job bouncing back. We came out here tonight having so much fun. On the bench, on the ice, we were just flying. I think it’s awesome to earn that win, especially heading into the playoffs.”

On getting a fast start:

“Coach is always saying, ‘Come out fast.' We want to be faster than any team right off the bat to kind of get them on their toes. I think we’ve been doing a good job of that all season.”

On scoring her goal:

“It felt really good. It’s been a while, so it was really nice to put one in, especially in a game that’s going to lead to a league championship.”

Up Next

Wisconsin wraps up its series with Minnesota Duluth at 4 p.m. on Saturday at AMSOIL Arena. The game can be seen in the Madison area on channel 27.3, while fans can also listen to the game on the radio (100.9 FM).