Coming off their most emotional sweep in recent memory, upending No. 3 Minnesota (11-3-0 WCHA, 15-3-0 overall), the top-ranked and unblemished Wisconsin Badger women’s hockey team (12-0-0, 18-0-0) will face another dangerous test this weekend when they travel to Ralph Engelstad Arena to face-off versus No. 9 North Dakota (6-4-2 WCHA, 10-6-2 overall). The last time the two met was in the 2015 WCHA semifinal, which the Badgers won 4-1 to advance to the WCHA Final Face-Off championship game.
The Badgers have seemingly been playing the game at a different speed than their competition, which has included other top-ranked teams. The Wisconsin defense, currently ranked No. 1 in the nation, is allowing just .50 goals per game, .62 less than second-best Quinnipiac, which sits at 1.12 goals allowed per game.
A major reason for that success has been the play of junior goaltender and WCHA Defensive Player of the Week Ann-Renée Desbiens, currently ranked the No. 1 goalie in the nation, according to USCHO.com. Desbiens has played in 16 of the Badgers' 18 matches, and has allowed nine goals, incidentally the same number of shutouts the standout goaltender has this season.
“I think the entire team has contributed to the success, even the forwards. When you spend that much time in the offensive zone, it makes it easy for us as a defense,” Desbiens said. “It’s pretty nice, I’ll be honest, they score some pretty amazing goals that you just watch on replay and you’re like ‘oh that was sick, I wouldn’t have saved it myself.’ It’s really fun.”
Coming off her stellar performance against the No. 1 Minnesota offense, Desbiens now recognizes she can handle the highest level of competition.
“It proved we can still do pretty well against one of the best offenses in the country,” Desbiens said.
The Badger defense will face another tough test with the North Dakota offense, led by Minnesota native junior forward Amy Menke, currently ranked 13th in the nation in points with 24 in 18 games. She is just four points shy of her 37-game total in the previous season.
Though North Dakota’s offense currently only ranks 18th in the nation, averaging 2.39 goals per game, it has shown it can be explosive, having scored three or more goals in nine of its 18 matches. Their most notable success was an impressive 4-3 victory at home over Minnesota after a crushing 5-1 loss the previous night.
“They have a great first line. Three really good players who can put the puck in the net,” Desbiens said. “We need to make sure that we still keep doing what we have been doing since the beginning of the season.”
North Dakota’s defense is statistically even better than its offense, having the No. 10 overall defense, joining only nine other teams that allow less than two goals per game.
Their success is largely due to their keeper, Minnesota-born redshirt senior Shelby Amsley-Benzie. Amsley-Benzie has a career save percentage of 92.3 and recorded the best season in UND history in 2014-'15 when she led the nation in save percentage with a .952 average, in addition to setting program records for shutouts, consecutive shutouts and career wins.
That decorated defense will face a difficult trial when the Badgers, led by three of the top 10 goal scorers in the nation, try to continue their undefeated season.
The Badgers' attack will be led by two-time WCHA Offensive Player of the Week sophomore forward Annie Pankowski, along with sophomore forward Emily Clark and junior forward Sarah Nurse, both of whom played for Canada in the 2015 Four Nations Cup.
“We always joke around about how fun it is and we wish we were all on the same national team,” said Pankowski, who plays for Team USA. “They are great players and they definitely elevate my game and push me at practice.”
“I think the team is a little bit tighter, a little closer. I think with the large number of seniors, I think having that sort of cohesive group has set the foundation for this team in the future.”
With all that firepower on the Badgers' line, it will be interesting to see how North Dakota's keeper and defense fare.
