The No. 3-ranked and WCHA champion Badgers (24-3-1 WCHA, 30-3-1 overall) commence their postseason campaign at home this weekend versus Minnesota State (0-25-3, 3-27-4) at LaBahn Arena.
After a hard-hitting voyage to Minneapolis last weekend when the Gophers swept the Badgers, Wisconsin is undeniably delighted to return home (where they are undefeated) and to have drawn an early matchup versus an opponent they have dominated this season.
“I think just the start of playoffs kind of resets a button for us anyways. I think the losses were at a good time for us, it’s better to have them now then later,” sophomore forward Annie Pankowski said. “I think it shows where we stand and what we need to work on.”
The two teams have squared off four times this season, with Wisconsin utterly dominating the score sheet, outscoring Minnesota State 25-1. The Badgers come into the weekend leading the all-time series against Minnesota State 70-2-3.
“For this team I think it’s going to be keeping our mental toughness,” Pankowski said. “We will come into games like Mankato and think we can just take our foot off the gas but we need to flip a switch and get going in the other direction.”
Entering the playoffs, the Badgers have the top-ranked scoring defense, allowing .76 goals per contest and only 26 goals in all 34 games this year. A major contributor to that remarkable statistic are the 18 shutouts UW has handed to its opponents this season.
Junior UW goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens continues to lead the nation in save percentage (.956), goals against (.82) and shutouts (16). Her back-to-back standout seasons have put her in her own class as the only goaltender to ever have consecutive seasons with at least 12 shutouts. Desbiens’ 33 career shutouts places her second in the history of the program and third in the NCAA record books.
Desbiens took partial blame for the losses last weekend in Minnesota, but is using it as a learning experience to prepare for the upcoming postseason.
“I think we need to be ready as soon as they drop the puck, well I’ll talk for myself, I know I wasn’t ready and I could have done a better job personally,” Desbiens said. “So next time we meet I will be ready to go and we won’t start down two to nothing.”
The offense will be led by Pankowski and sophomore Emily Clark, who have each notched 20 goals this season, along with the Badgers’ leading goal scorer, junior Sarah Nurse, who has tallied 22 scores, good for seventh in the country. Pankowski leads the Badgers in total points with 52 (20 goals, 32 assists).
Though everyone else outside the locker room may be chalking this up as a Cardinal and White victory, experience tells some of the upperclassmen otherwise.
“Everyone’s season could be ending and they don’t want that to happen so they are going to give us their best game they have,” senior forward Rachel Jones said.
The puck will drop Friday at 7 p.m. to kick off the best-of-three series, with the second game being played Saturday at 4 p.m. and, if required, the tiebreaker will start at 2 p.m. Sunday.
