The Wisconsin women’s hockey team schooled Dartmouth this weekend, winning Friday night’s match 4-1 and Saturday’s match 4-0.
The Badgers (16-0-0, 10-0 WCHA) fought hard against Dartmouth (4-4-2, 4-1-2 Ivy League), with goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens only allowing one goal the entire weekend.
Both games included some rather spectacular play, especially by Desbiens. One of Desbiens’ best saves happened Friday night, when she managed to see through two Dartmouth forwards to catch a puck midair.
Emily Clark finished off Friday night’s game with an impeccable shot that she managed to slip past the Dartmouth goaltender’s foot. Clark celebrated her goal alone for about five seconds because she was the only person in the building who knew it went in.
The Badgers also saw great performances from their freshman players, especially Sophia Shaver and Sam Cogan, who both scored a goal apiece Friday and Saturday respectfully. Head coach Mark Johnson believes this kind of play is crucial for the growth of these players.
“They’re just getting their feet wet right now and in the next couple of weekends [going up against Minnesota and North Dakota] those experiences will help them in their growth,” Johnson said.
Saturday got off to a slower start than Friday for the Badgers, with the first goal being scored by Sarah Nurse nine minutes into the second period. Nurse admits the scoreless first period helped to ignite a fire in Wisconsin.
“We were peppering shots the whole game, and I think that getting the first goal opened up the flood gates for the whole team,” Nurse said.
Nurse would end up scoring Wisconsin’s second goal of the night in the same period, a mere five minutes after her first shot hit the back of the net.
Johnson also liked the way the team looked playing against a non-division team like Dartmouth, especially during a third quarter Friday night that got more aggressive as the clock wound down.
“We competed at a high level against a physical opponent,” Johnson said. They challenged us and I thought that we responded very well. I like the number that we’re getting, because that indicated that we’re getting the puck quite a bit. We had numerous good scoring opportunities.”
Both Friday and Saturday’s game helped two Badgers gain new accolades in their careers.
Desbiens now has nine shutouts in the 2015-16 season, which ranks sixth on the NCAA shutout list. Annie Pankowski scored Wisconsin’s first goal of the night Friday, extending her point streak to 18, which is the sixth longest in Wisconsin’s history.
Pankowski knew that Dartmouth was going to be a strong competitor, and knows that these wins show the strength of Wisconsin’s team.
“We were expecting a great game,” Pankowski said. “And that’s what we got, was a fight until the end. I think that it’s a true testament to our team.”
