Gopher Women Skate Past Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. - The No. 2 Minnesota women's hockey team handed the top-ranked Badgers their first loss of the season, skating to a 4-1 victory in game one of the Border Battle behind three points from sophomore Dani Cameranesi (Plymouth, Minn.) at LaBahn Arena Friday night.
Minnesota (4-0-1, 2-0-1-0 WCHA) was six-for-six on the penalty kill, including killing four-straight penalties in the second period. Meanwhile, the Gophers capitalized on one of their three power-play opportunities and netted a shorthanded goal.
"Special teams was the key for us tonight," head coach Brad Frost said. "Anytime you play a great opponent, it usually is. To be able to kill off all of those penalties and then score one on the power play was big for us."
Along with Cameranesi's three-point effort, the Gophers received goals from juniors Hannah Brandt (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) and Milica McMillen (St. Paul, Minn.). Junior goaltender Amanda Leveille (Kingston, Ont.) made 23 saves in her third win of the season. Meanwhile, UW goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens made 22 stops and fell to 4-1-0 on the season.
"It was just an awesome win for our team here tonight," Frost said. "To come out, on the road, and set the tone early and really establish our game was critical. We got a couple big goals at the end of the first and the end of the second, which tend to be back-breakers as long as you come out the next period and continue to capture the momentum, and I thought we did that here tonight."
The teams combined for four first-period goals as the Gophers took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. Brandt put Minnesota on the board with an unassisted shorthanded goal just 6:46 into the game, but Wisconsin (6-1-0, 4-1-0-0 WCHA) responded with a goal by Karley Sylvester just as Rachael Bona (Coon Rapids, Minn.) stepped out of the penalty box. However, Minnesota responded with two more goals before the end of the opening stanza.
The Gophers regained the lead when Cameranesi netted her fourth goal of the season, sneaking the puck past Desbiens after a toe drag past a Badger defenseman at 9:34 of the first period. McMillen then scored her fourth power-play goal of the year off a feed from Cameranesi and senior Rachel Ramsey (Chanhassen, Minn.) with just 0.3 seconds remaining in the period.
The second period saw the Gophers kill off four-straight penalties, holding the Badgers to just four shots during the four power plays, before Cameranesi scored her second of the night off a feed from sophomore Lee Stecklein (Roseville, Minn.) at the 19:20 mark of the frame.
"The second period I was as proud of our team as I have been all year," Frost said. "Getting called on so many penalties and being able to kill those off, and then come back and getting that one at the end of the period was huge. It was a big win for us. Everybody played great and excelled in their roles."
The teams skated to a scoreless third period, as Minnesota finished the game with a power-play goal, a shorthanded goal and two even strength tallies. For the game, the Gophers held a 26-24 advantage in shots on goal.
Minnesota and Wisconsin face off in the series finale at 3:07 p.m. CT Saturday afternoon at LaBahn Arena.
Source: Gophersports.com
More From KROC-AM
