MADISON – Goaltender Cammi Kronish called the Wisconsin women’s hockey team’s win over rival Minnesota on Sunday afternoon a complete team effort. The redshirt senior entered the game unexpectedly before four minutes had even elapsed, replacing redshirt sophomore Jane Gervais, who exited the game with an injury.
After settling for a tie on Saturday, with Minnesota taking an additional conference point by winning the shootout, the Badgers came out with renewed determination on Saturday that pushed the Gophers off their game. They outshot Minnesota 40-29, had 21 block to their 13 and dominated on faceoffs, winning of 31 of 49 chances.
Wisconsin was coming off two straight weekends without games, meaning there were about 20 days between puck drops for the Badgers. Freshman Kristin Simms said the team worked hard during that time with these games in mind, so this was the payoff. Coach Mark Johnson agreed.
“In the third, I liked that they we were able to get ourselves in position, we were able to execute do the things necessary to eliminate the other team from really getting quality chances,” he said.
“I liked a lot of the little things we did today compared to what we did yesterday. They spent a lot of time working hard and competing and they got rewarded for their effort today.”
The teams traded power play goals in the opening frame. Nicole LaMantia placed a shot top shelf from the far faceoff circle to give Wisconsin a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later, Taylor Heise tied the game on a beautiful display of vision on the ice and puck handling as she drove into the net before changing course and heading to the top of the circles where she quickly turned and let go of a shot to beat Kronish.
Late in the second, sophomore Sarah Wozniewicz had a great touch in the neutral zone to feed the puck to junior Casey O’Brien in stride. As O’Brien carried it in, Wozniewicz broke to the slot, where O’Brien fed her the puck. Wozniewicz put the puck in as she was hit by Heise coming in to defend.
Simms extended the lead to 3-1 early in the third when she put back a rebound off a Laila Edwards shot. The goal was waved off as it happened, but was reviewed at the next stoppage and called good.
Grad transfer Jesse Compher, who led all skaters on the weekend with 15 shots on goal and three points, capped the day off for the Badgers with a top shelf shot from the left faceoff dot to give Wisconsin a 4-1 win.
“We just had the energy all game and knew that our push was there. Why let our foot off the gas at all? Just keep going. We wanted to seal the win, but if we can keep putting them in, then keep putting them in,” said Simms.
“Overall, we got beat and they looked a little more hungry than we did in stretches of that game, which we need to get better on,” said Minnesota coach Brad Frost.
It was an off game all around for the Gophers, who struggled to get pucks on net or turn transition rushes into scoring opportunities. They had 64 shot attempts, but put just 29 of them on net.
Kronish said coming in so quickly after the start of the game was a surprise, but not too difficult. She prepares for every game the same way, whether she’s named starter or not. They way she rebounded in the final two periods on Saturday and then handled the unusual situation Sunday gave her more confidence, she said.
“I showed that I’m capable of playing two games against one of the best teams in college hockey. I’m proud of myself and the effort and I’m proud of this team,” she said.
“Seeing my teammates layout and block a shot like it’s just like the most unbelievable feeling as a goaltender that your teammates are willing to put their bodies in front of the puck and they don’t have half as much padding as I do. It was just a full team effort. Everybody wanted to win. They were willing to sacrifice.”
