A goaltender’s jersey can tell you the kind of game they had; a clean one is a sign that they weren’t tested much, while a netminder who stands on their head can come away covered with signatures of shots stopped.
After Sunday’s matchup with Minnesota, Kristin Campbell’s jersey was covered in black puck-marks, including a large one at the tip of the red W.
The junior goaltender and Wisconsin’s (3-1-0 WCHA, 9-1-0 overall) defense held off an offensive onslaught in the final period to beat Minnesota (5-2-1, 7-2-1) 4-1 in the second game of the rivalry series.
“I knew, we all knew they were going to come out hard. They’re down a goal, they’re hungry, they haven’t had many losses this year,” Campbell said. “I think we all just keep each other calm … it’s all about communication as a team.”
Campbell made 18 of her 30 saves in the final 20 minutes, the most shots she’d seen in a single period since a February loss to Ohio State last season.
Several of her saves were made at point-blank range as Minnesota succeeded in getting pressure at the net-front — including one snipe from Gopher forward Amy Potomak that rang off the side of her helmet.
Campbell’s defense gave her several key assists, including a pair of blocked shots on Minnesota rushes and a diving penalty kill clearance by senior forward Annie Pankowski.
“This is probably the most shots I’ve seen this year and maybe my whole career here,” Campbell said. “It’s fun to get that many shots and hold a one-goal lead; I think that will help us as a team in the future.”
Wisconsin jumped out to an early lead on the back of some hard-nosed play — and a bit of chemistry — from a pair of freshman forwards.
First it was Britta Curl, who was moved up to the second line for this series, who stole the puck from Gopher center Abigail Boreen’s stick deep in the offensive zone, smartly held up the play and dished it to Sophie Shirley as she drove to the open far post. Shirley buried the chance for her sixth goal of the year to put the Badgers up 15 minutes into the game.
“The puck turned over and I just saw her backdoor and tried to slide it through,” Curl said. “[Shirley]’s a great player, she gets in position to make plays.”
The Gophers tied it up just a couple minutes later when junior forward Presley Norby flubbed a clearance attempt that left the Badger defense out of position. Gopher forward Kelly Pannek made an initial try Campbell stopped, but she curled behind the net and dished the puck to teammate Emily Oden, who put it past a slow-to-recover Campbell.
Wisconsin dominated the shots in the second period, outshooting Minnesota 14-5, but came away with only one goal, off the stick of defender Natalie Buchbinder. The sophomore also collected a key block late in the period to preserve the lead she had created.
Minnesota did its best to erase the lead early in the final period, but Campbell and Wisconsin turned away every the Gophers put on net. With the clock winding down, the Badgers got an insurance goal from their dynamic freshman duo.
This time it was Curl on the end, netting the final of her seven shots on goal after a nice give-and-go play with Shirley to put Wisconsin up 3-1. The goal highlighted a standout performance by Curl, who lead the team in shots and was a near-constant presence in the offensive zone during her time on ice.
“Having her work to get puck possession and get it to Shirley and then get in position to her … a lot of credit to her,” head coach Mark Johnson said. “Britta played well. She continues to get better, so it’s nice to see her get rewarded.”
Pankowski provided the final score of the afternoon on an empty-net goal as the clock ticked down to seal the win, and the series split for Wisconsin against its border-battle rivals.
