It’s not often that two conference rookies of the year face each other in the same game. That’s what’s happening Saturday as Annie Pankowski and Wisconsin take on Victoria Bach and Boston University in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
Bach has scored one more goal than Pankowski this season, 19 to 18, but Pankowski’s 21 assists gives her the clear point advantage over Bach, who set up her teammates only 14 times. But points don’t tell the whole story about these forwards’ impacts on their respective teams.
Pankowski leads her team with 166 shots this season, compared to Bach’s 108. As a result, Bach has been the much more efficient scorer. However, there are two other forwards on the ice with these two, and their teammates have affected their outputs.
The rookie Badger is her team’s leading goal scorer and she carried her team to a number of victories this season. Bach is third on her team in goals scored and fourth in total points, and she has the fifth leading goal scorer in the nation, senior captain Marie-Philip Poulin, to take the pressure off her.
That does not make Bach’s accomplishments any less impressive, but as more of a secondary scoring option, she may not receive as much of the defensive focus as Pankowski does.
Poulin is the one who usually makes the headlines for the Terriers and for good reason. She scored five goals in BU’s final two Hockey East tournament victories and has really carried her team down the stretch.
“She is a special player,” said Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson. “[She’s] leading her team and scoring a lot of goals here the last couple of weekends has put her group in the position to play in the national tournament.
“It’s their senior class that seems to be excelling and those seniors, similar to what we’re seeing on our team, the finish line is there,” Johnson added. “They see the end of their careers, and they don’t want it to stop.”
Badger seniors have scored 60 of the team’s 128 goals this season, including two in Wisconsin’s 4-0 win over Bemidji State in the WCHA Tournament final. The leadership of senior captains Blayre Turnbull, Karley Sylvester and Katarina Zgraja has been invaluable for the team this season, and they will be relied on for their tournament experience. They kept the team together through adversity and their hard work is paying off.
“If I put one thing that makes this team special is the chemistry that they have among each other and how they get along, how they go about their business on a daily basis,” Johnson said. “If you play as a team and you’re united, you have a chance to do something special, and this group up to this point has been able to do that.”
As the seniors play in their final tournament, the freshmen begin their first. It’s been a heck of a season for both Pankowski and Bach and this should mark the beginning of very successful collegiate careers for both.
Wisconsin and Boston University have met in the NCAA tournament before, a Badger win in 2011, and it’s likely this won’t be the last time. The puck drops Saturday at 2 p.m. at LaBahn Arena.
