Photo by: David Stluka
Top-ranked Badgers end 2015 with road trip to No. 9 North Dakota
December 10, 2015 | Women's Hockey
Wisconsin faces tough road test in North Dakota
Following a sweep of No. 3 Minnesota, top-ranked Wisconsin wraps up the first half of its season with a road trip to Grand Forks to take on North Dakota.
The Badgers took care of business against their Border Battle rivals, defeating Minnesota 3-2 in an overtime thriller last Friday before recording a 3-1 win on Saturday. Sophomore Annie Pankowski scored three of the six goals, including both game-winners.
One of the keys in the sweep was the play of UW's defense. Minnesota entered the weekend averaging over six goals per game, but Wisconsin limited the Gophers to a total of three during the two-game series, the fewest they've scored in a two-game series this season.
"They have amazing players, amazing forwards, a lot of skills, a lot of defense and can even jump into the rush," UW goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens said. "We were able to contain them and in our defensive zone. Everybody watched their own player, nobody tried to do too much and we made sure we stayed disciplined."
Wisconsin also limited Minnesota to 47 shots on goal during the series. The Gophers entered the weekend averaging more than 36 shots on goal per contest.Â
"All year, we have been working on our gaps and working on stepping up before they even enter the zone," UW captain Courtney Burke said. "We like to apply pressure and want the opponent to ice the puck."
Friday's win ended an 18-game winless streak for UW against Minnesota, and Saturday's victory capped off Wisconsin's first sweep of the Gophers since the 2009-10 season.
"It was a great weekend of hockey, I think, for both sides," Pankowski said. "It really just showed the caliber of women's hockey nowadays in the NCAA. But for our team, there's a lot of excitement and a little bit of relief.
"We were ranked number one but there was always a little asterisk until you beat Minnesota, and I think we kind of proved there's a reason we're number one in the country."
Up next for Wisconsin is a tough test against No. 9 North Dakota, the only other team to beat Minnesota this season. The Fighting Hawks enter the weekend with the country's ninth-best scoring defense and rank in the top 10 in both the power play and penalty kill.
"We can't take them lightly," Pankowski said. "They always bring a game for us and we kind of struggled there last year in that arena, which is definitely a different vibe than playing in LaBahn Arena."
The teams met five times last year, with Wisconsin going 4-0-1, but all five contests were close.
"It is always good series," Burke said. "They always give us their 'A' game and we are excited to get up there and play them. We know that they always play hard against us, so we will be ready."
Following the road series, Wisconsin will have four weeks off before hosting Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 8 and 10.
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The Badgers took care of business against their Border Battle rivals, defeating Minnesota 3-2 in an overtime thriller last Friday before recording a 3-1 win on Saturday. Sophomore Annie Pankowski scored three of the six goals, including both game-winners.
One of the keys in the sweep was the play of UW's defense. Minnesota entered the weekend averaging over six goals per game, but Wisconsin limited the Gophers to a total of three during the two-game series, the fewest they've scored in a two-game series this season.
"They have amazing players, amazing forwards, a lot of skills, a lot of defense and can even jump into the rush," UW goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens said. "We were able to contain them and in our defensive zone. Everybody watched their own player, nobody tried to do too much and we made sure we stayed disciplined."
Wisconsin also limited Minnesota to 47 shots on goal during the series. The Gophers entered the weekend averaging more than 36 shots on goal per contest.Â
"All year, we have been working on our gaps and working on stepping up before they even enter the zone," UW captain Courtney Burke said. "We like to apply pressure and want the opponent to ice the puck."
Friday's win ended an 18-game winless streak for UW against Minnesota, and Saturday's victory capped off Wisconsin's first sweep of the Gophers since the 2009-10 season.
"It was a great weekend of hockey, I think, for both sides," Pankowski said. "It really just showed the caliber of women's hockey nowadays in the NCAA. But for our team, there's a lot of excitement and a little bit of relief.
"We were ranked number one but there was always a little asterisk until you beat Minnesota, and I think we kind of proved there's a reason we're number one in the country."
Up next for Wisconsin is a tough test against No. 9 North Dakota, the only other team to beat Minnesota this season. The Fighting Hawks enter the weekend with the country's ninth-best scoring defense and rank in the top 10 in both the power play and penalty kill.
"We can't take them lightly," Pankowski said. "They always bring a game for us and we kind of struggled there last year in that arena, which is definitely a different vibe than playing in LaBahn Arena."
The teams met five times last year, with Wisconsin going 4-0-1, but all five contests were close.
"It is always good series," Burke said. "They always give us their 'A' game and we are excited to get up there and play them. We know that they always play hard against us, so we will be ready."
Following the road series, Wisconsin will have four weeks off before hosting Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 8 and 10.
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