MADISON, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin jumped out to an early five-goal lead and went on to claim a 7-0 victory over the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's hockey team on Friday at the Kohl Center in front of 1,972 fans. It marked the season opener for both teams.

Wisconsin broke the game wide open in the first period, scoring just 15 seconds into the game and tacking on four more goals in the first 20 minutes. Junior Carolyne Prevost (Sarnia, ONT) tallied the Badgers first goal off assists from sophomore Brianna Decker (Dousman, WI) and senior Geena Prough (Farmington, MI).

Junior Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, ID) made it a two-goal advantage for the home team at the 3:44 mark, pushing the puck past Rensselaer goalie Sonja van der Bliek (Toronto, ON) off a pass from senior Mallory Deluce (London, ON).

The Badgers wasted little time in building a 3-0 lead as rookie Brittany Ammerman (River Vale, NJ) scored just over a minute later. It was Ammerman once again at the 12:53 mark as she scored past van der Bliek for a 4-0 advantage.

Senior Meghan Duggan (Danvers, MA) wrapped up the scoring in the opening stanza less than 30 seconds after Ammerman's tally, giving Wisconsin a 5-0 lead heading into the intermission. 

Despite the deficit on the scoreboard, the visiting Engineers did have their chances in the first period, sending six shots at sophomore netminder Becca Ruegsegger (Lakewood, CO), including a pair of shots on goal by sophomore Clare Padmore (Toronto, ON), who finished with a team-best four shots on net.

Wisconsin added to its lead in the second stanza as Prevost recorded her second goal of the game at 8:03 off an assist from Decker. The Badgers held a 12-2 shot advantage in the period.

Deluce capped the scoring for the home team in the final period, scoring a short-handed goal at 18:18 off a pass from Nash.

Wisconsin, which held a 31-11 advantage in shots for the contest, saw Ruegsegger stop 11 shots for the shutout victory. Between the pipes for RPI, van der Bliek took the loss, making four saves before giving way to sophomore Shannon Ramelot (Bloomfield Hills, MI), who posted 20 saves in relief.

The two teams will meet again on Saturday at the Kohl Center. Face-off is at 8pm (ET).