Casey O'Brien, Laila Edwards score twice in Wisconsin hockey's comeback win over No. 1 Ohio State

MADISON – There wasn’t a much better way for Wisconsin to finish the regular season.

The second-ranked Badgers women’s hockey team, fresh off a disappointing loss to top-ranked Ohio State on Friday night, came back from a two-goal deficit to score a 4-2 victory Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 2,273 at LaBahn Arena.

Senior Casey O’Brien scored the first two goals and sophomore Laila Edwards put away the final two, scoring the game-winner at the 11-minute 15-second mark of the final period and finishing an empty-netter with 8 seconds left.

The victory snapped the Buckeyes’ 16-game winning streak and provided the Badgers some extra juice head into the WCHA playoffs.

BOX SCORE: No. 2 Wisconsin 4, No. 1 Ohio State 2

“Obviously in the first period I don’t think we were anywhere near our best,” O’Brien said. “But we self-reflected in the locker room in between periods and everyone looked in the mirror and thought about what they could do better and we went out and executed it.

“I think it just shows that we can come back from adversity and we’re a real tough team and when we play our best no one can beat us.”

Wisconsin finished the regular season 29-5 overall and 23-5 in the WCHA. It will face St. Thomas in the first round of the WCHA quarterfinals Friday and Saturday. Ohio State (29-3, 26-2) will face Bemidji State in the quarterfinals.

This time Ohio State outshot UW, 17-4, and scored twice in the first period before getting shutout by the Badgers during the final two periods. Looking for a spark, Badgers coach Mark Johnson shuffled his lines and eventually hit with the combination of O'Brien, senior Britta Curl and junior Lacey Eden.

The series finale was the opposite of Friday night, when the Badgers dominated the first period and then were outplayed during the final 30 minutes.

Curl and Eden got assists on O'Brien's game-tying score at 10:07 of the third period.

"We needed something to give us energy, give us some offensive zone time, quality scoring opportunties," Johnson said. "Casey's goal. That changes things because that energizes us and makes the game a little bit different than it was in the first period, so the changes we did seemed to work out OK."

Just as Ohio State did Friday, UW scored the game-winner less than 2 minutes later.

The Badgers' defense did the rest. Freshman goalie Ava McNaughton recorded eight of 33 saves during the final period. She had three stops and junior Sarah Wozniewicz, sophomore Marianne Picard and senior Maddi Wheeler blocked shots during the final 6 minutes, the last 1:47 coming against a sixth skater for the Buckeyes.

Wisconsin's 18 blocks tied for its second-highest total of the season, helping it win for the first time this season when it was outshot (35-24).

“You have to somehow contain them. You’re not going to stop them,” Johnson said. “They’re too deep and fast and play a well-structured game, so you’ve got to be willing to block shots, which we did for the last 6 or 8 minutes of the game and then your goalie has to make some saves. … We were down, 2-0. Ava gave us a chance to win.”

The victory was UW's first against the Buckeyes this season. Wisconsin had its best period of the season before wilting Friday. On Saturday the Badgers dug deep and rallied for a much-needed victory over a team they’ll probably face again.

“We’re fully expecting to see them again whether it’s WCHAs or the national tournament. We’re fully prepared for that,” O’Brien said. “We kind of needed this win so that we know within ourselves that we can beat them.

“They’re a great team, really well coached. ... We knew we could beat them, but we just proved it and so when we meet them down the road, we’re going to be ready for it.”

More: Wisconsin women's hockey can't sustain strong start, falls to top-ranked Ohio State

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Edwards, O'Brien score twice, Wisconsin knocks off No. 1 Ohio State