No. 3 Wisconsin’s quest for its first national championship since 2011 got off to a scintillating start this past weekend, as the Badgers notched a pair of convincing victories against the Providence Friars.
UW (2-0-0) kicked things off Friday night in San Jose, California, where the Friars (0-2-0) drew first blood 8:39 into the first period. However, the Badgers answered back when sophomore forward Annie Pankowski redirected a shot by junior defenseman Jenny Ryan to light the lamp with 1:14 remaining in the period.
Wisconsin would blow the doors open in the second frame, scoring four goals courtesy of four different players (junior forward Sarah Nurse, redshirt junior forward Mikayla Johnson, senior forward Molly Doner and senior forward Katy Harding.
Though Providence would get five power-play opportunities in the third period, the Badgers killed off all five penalties and surrendered just two shots in the period.
In total, UW outshot the Friars by a 38-19 margin. Junior goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens made 18 saves for the Badgers in the win.
“Being the first game of the year, obviously there are some jitters and nervousness,” Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson said following his team’s season-opening 5-1 victory. “It was a good game, we killed some penalties in the third period and got some production in the second period and now the nice thing is we can look at ourselves and try to make strides of improvement.”
Saturday’s contest would turn out to be an even more one-sided affair, as Pankowski recorded her third career hat trick as the Badgers rolled to an 8-1 win over the Friars.
Nurse added two goals of her own, and freshman forward Sam Cogan, sophomore forward Emily Clark and freshman forward Sophia Shaver each found the back of the net as well.
As a team, the Badgers outshot Providence 47-11 and converted on two of their four power-play opportunities.
The series was played at Sharks Ice, the practice facility of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, and was followed by a youth clinic hosted by both teams on Sunday.
“It’s a tribute to the hockey community,” Johnson said. “They’re coming out here, the Sharks advertised it, so a lot of people showed up. For a lot of the fans, it’s the first time they’ve seen a Division I women’s hockey game live. I think a lot of them were very impressed with the level of play.”
The Badgers return home to Madison to kick off WCHA play against Ohio State next weekend.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
