Gophers junior defenseman Sydney Morrow, a first-year transfer from Colgate, was looking very much like the hero of the day after her pair of goals early in the second period gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead over No. 1 Wisconsin on Saturday at Ridder Arena.

By game’s end, when the Badgers had battled back from a 3-0 deficit to complete the weekend sweep with a 4-3 victory, Morrow filled the role of the voice of experience.

“When we have a three-goal lead we need to learn how to bear down and grind it out,” said Morrow, a second-team All-American who began her career at Ohio State. “I think we have a bit of a younger core that maybe hasn’t seen as many of those games. As the season goes on, hopefully we can learn how to not give up those big goals.”

After a scoreless first period, Morrow got the Gophers started 21 seconds into the second period and added a power-play goal just over a minute later. When Gophers center Madison Kaiser scored at 8:44 to make it 3-0, it appeared the sellout crowd was about to watch the No. 3 Gophers do a 180-degree turn after losing 5-0 to the Badgers on  Friday.

But just as they did in series opener, penalties did the Gophers in. The Badgers scored a power-play goal a minute after the Gophers took a 3-0 lead. When they scored another power-play goal 35 seconds into the third period, the momentum had completely turned around.

The Badgers pulled even at 4:40 before scoring the eventual game-winner at 13:53.

“That was tough,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said when he met the media after the game. “We challenged our kids to compete after (Friday’s) performance, and they did. But this one is going to sting being up like that and letting it go.

“They’re the standard right now and everybody’s chasing them. A championship-type team like that, to come back is pretty impressive.”

The Gophers managed only seven shots on goal in the third period (to Wisconsin’s 13), but Frost didn’t think his team played too conservatively with the lead.

“We talked about that, like we’ve got to keep going and keep pressing,” he said. “We played a good hockey game, but not good enough.”

Morrow believes the Gophers’ issues were more mental than physical.

“When one went in we let the momentum shift get to us,” she said. “It’s the No. 1 team in the nation, it’s not going to be easy. But you can’t just give up.”

No one in the building was surprised the Badgers made a push after falling behind 3-0.

“They’re a mature team and they also have that confidence of being No. 1,” Morrow said. “They’re not going to let that shake them.”

Conversely, the Gophers weren’t able to match the Badgers’ intensity when it mattered the most.

“Even when it’s 3-1, 3-2, you’ve got to fight through it,” Morrow said. “You can’t let that adversity shut you down. I think we shut down a little bit, and we can’t do that going forward.”

For Morrow, who played at Shattuck-St. Mary’s, it was her first taste of the Gophers-Badgers rivalry, and she came oh so close to making it a memorable debut.

“It’s THE rivalry,” Morrow said. “In women’s hockey, this is THE game. So I was pretty pumped up for this being my first one. Next time it happens I hope we’re ready to win.”

After starting the season 4-0, Frost was confident the Gophers were ready to make a statement heading into back-to-back weekends against Ohio State and Wisconsin. They finished 0-3-1.

“I love our team, I believe in our team,” Frost said. “We’ve got to make some strides here, we’ve got to learn here after the last couple of weekends.”

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