The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers (18-1-1 WCHA, 24-1-1 overall) came into the weekend seeking revenge against a formidable No. 8-ranked North Dakota squad (10-7-3, 13-8-3) that managed to mark Wisconsin with its first blemishes on an otherwise flawless season. The Badgers found more success in Madison this weekend than they experienced in Grand Forks earlier in the year.
The first night of the matchup proved to be another defensive battle between two of the WCHA’s top programs, which the Badgers took by a score of 1-0 thanks to an early goal from senior forward Erika Sowchuk, who was set up by a nice assist off the boards from senior forward Rachel Jones.
“Rachel Jones made a nice chip off the boards and I was able to pretty much just throw it at the goalie’s feet, trying to create a rebound, and somehow it went into the back of the net,” Sowchuk said of her goal.
Senior goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens was able to record a career high 29 saves, which resulted in her 29th career shutout at Wisconsin and 12th this season. Desbiens leads the nation in shutouts (12), save percentage (.964) and goals against average (.66). A large part of her success is the outstanding defense in front of her, which leads the nation in scoring (.62 goals against), in addition to having the country’s top-ranked penalty kill (.958).
The UW penalty kill was tested early in the series Saturday when the Badgers were outmanned 5-3 late in the first frame, after taking an initial 1-0 lead. It seemed inevitable that the Fighting Hawks would tie the game up heading into the second frame, but the Badger defense again stiffened, and with the help of a couple of miraculous saves from Desbiens, the Cardinal and White managed to keep the net clean.
“The other team was trying to take shots but most of them were not super dangerous, so that was a big deal.” Desbiens regarding UND’s power play. “Jenny Ryan blocked a shot with her head, that’s pretty impressive, too. I don’t think I even want to do that myself.”
Head coach Mark Johnson was pleased with how his squad performed in a tight game versus a proven and challenging team like North Dakota.
“The last minute and a half, I thought we did a good job of staying in the moment and doing the things you need to do to win a game, 1-0,” he said.
Sunday was also a tough defensive battle that began with yet another scoreless period between the two perennial powerhouses. It wasn’t until the final minutes of the second period that the first siren would sound, when the Badger’s junior forward Sarah Nurse snuck one past the All-American North Dakota senior goaltender, Shelby Amsley-Benzie.
Early in the final frame, UW’s sophomore forward Annie Pankowski had a big collision with North Dakota’s Tanja Eisenschmid which resulted in Pankowski receiving a two-minute penalty for checking and Eisenschmid being helped off the ice by her teammates. Taking advantage of the power play, the Fighting Hawks responded with a retaliatory goal, tying the score at 1-1. The physicality for both units only seemed to escalate after the injury and tying goal.
As the final frame progressed it seemed the two highly-ranked programs were destined for another overtime bout. The Badgers, however, got one more opportunity in the form of a power play, and they capitalized. The score came with just over a minute left to play, putting Wisconsin up 2-1, and from the very familiar combination of Pankowski to sophomore forward Emily Clark. In a last-ditch effort, the Fighting Hawks pulled their goaltender, only to have another goal scored by the same UW duo, this time with Clark on the assist and Pankowski finding the net to give the Badgers a 3-1 victory.
Johnson was pleased with how his team showed up emotionally, as they were able to weather the storm and earn their redemption against the Fighting Hawks.
“You know coming back here and really battling, playing a different type of game then we did last week,” Johnson said. “They showed a lot of heart, a lot of courage, and found ways to win both nights.”
