Fifth-ranked Wisconsin got four goals in the first period on its way to a 7-4 win over Notre Dame on Saturday night.

The Badgers were up 3-0 before the Irish knew what hit them. William Whitelaw lit the lamp first, before a pair of goals from Mathieu De St. Phalle gave Wisconsin a big lead just 11:54 into the game. After Notre Dame got one back, Zach Schulz pushed the lead back to three with his second goal of the year.

Early in the second, the Badgers increased the lead to 5-1 with a goal from Sassy Simon, his team-high 10th of the season. But that’s when Notre Dame made a game of it with three goals in about three minutes against Wisconsin goalie Kyle McClellan. Coach Mike Hastings had seen enough, going to his bench and inserting backup William Gramme. It helped the Badgers regain control of the game and he stopped the 23 shots he faced over the last nearly 29 minutes of action.

Ben Dexheimer gave Wisconsin some breathing room nearly midway through the third and then Carson Bantle finished the scoring with an empty-netter in the final minutes.

The win was Wisconsin’s ninth in a row, as the team improved to 18-4 overall and 10-2 in Big Ten play. Hastings’ team hasn’t lost since the day after Thanksgiving.

The Badgers will return home to host Lindenwood at the Kohl Center in a weekend series starting Friday.