Sun Valley's Hilary Knight is climbing rapidly on the University of Wisconsin women's hockey scoring charts—and she's leading the second-ranked Badgers in the 2010-11 NCAA Division 1 college hockey wars.
Knight, 21, is a 5-11 junior forward with three years of experience for Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson, but she's on the verge of becoming the all-time Badgers goal scoring leader.
In 100 career Wisconsin games, Knight has 88 goals and 71 assists for 159 points. She's tied for fourth place on the all-time scoring list, but with 88 goals she is only one goal behind all-time goal scoring leader Jinelle Zauggs (89).
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This year's WCHA Pre-Season Player of the Year, Knight scored two goals with two assists Saturday leading Wisconsin to a 7-4 win over #4-ranked Mercyhurst in the Easton Holiday Showcase tournament at St. Cloud, Minn.
It was a rematch of the teams in the 2099 NCAA Division 1 tournament championship game won by Wisconsin 5-0. Knight's second goal gave the Badgers a lead they would not relinquish, 4-3 in the third, as Wisconsin out-shot Mercyhurst 15-8 in the third, 39-31 overall.
This season, the daughter of Sun Valley's James and Cynthia Knight is Wisconsin's assistant captain. She has 23 goals and 15 assists for 38 points in 20 games. The 23 goals leads the team. Her 38 points ranks second on the Badgers.
Johnson's Badgers (18-2-0), national champs in 2009, 2007 and 2006, take a six-game winning streak to Ohio State Jan. 7-8. Mercyhurst fell to 14-4-0.