No. 2 Minnesota’s first line of Hannah Brandt between Dani Cameranesi and Maryanne Menefee came through with three goals and four assists in an 18-minute stretch to break a tie in a 4-1 win over No. 3 Wisconsin. They have won the last 14 head-to-head meetings.
“Really proud of our kids and the effort that they put forth here tonight,” coach Brad Frost said. “Our big-time players stepped up again.”
Brandt put the Gophers (19-1-2, 12-1-2-0 WCHA) on top to stay at the 15:54 mark of period two, circling the zone and sniping a shot just over Ann-Renée Desbiens’ pad on the blocker side to make the score 2-1.
Cameranesi doubled the lead five minutes into the third frame, squeezing a shot between Desbiens’ glove and body; the sophomore goalie got most of the puck.
“I just did everything I could to get the puck on net,” Cameranesi said. “It luckily slowly trickled into the net.”
The fourth Minnesota goal was also credited to Cameranesi. She deflected Rachel Ramsey’s shot, but the puck appeared to bounce off of Brandt and a defender before eluding Desbiens and crawling into the net. Either way, the duo combined for the final three goals, with Menefee earning an assist on each and Brandt adding a helper.
The Gophers caught a huge break at the end of the first period, when Wisconsin (17-3-1, 13-3-1-0 WCHA) defenseman Courtney Burke tripped over the skate of the referee behind her net and fumbled the puck to Cara Piazza alone in the slot.
“It was kind of surreal, and it’s one of those moments where I don’t even really remember it going in, but I remember celebrating with my teammates after,” Piazza said. “It’s just a great feeling to have a big goal like that and have the crowd go wild.”
Wisconsin took advantage of another unusual sequence where Minnesota goalie Amanda Leveille was assessed a minor for delay of game after she removed her helmet and mask.
“That wasn’t the smartest play on my part,” Leveille said. “Any time the blocker comes off, it’s not a reason for the ref to blow the whistle, and I kind of wanted him to blow it, because it was a Wisconsin girl that ran into me.”
Karley Sylvester buried the rebound of a shot from Burke for the lone Badgers tally, as her team won the special-teams battle.
“We started off with an early penalty kill and did a good job, and then when we did get our power play to start the second period, we capitalized, and created some energy and got a goal,” coach Mark Johnson said. “So good things came out of there.”
That was the only good thing that Leveille allowed. She saved the other 23 shots.
“I thought Amanda Leveille was tremendous,” Frost said.
The game was Wisconsin’s first of 2015.
“I got no complaints,” Johnson said. “I thought we put forth an effort. We haven’t played in five weeks. I thought for the most part, we played pretty well, but obviously, wasn’t good enough.”
The teams conclude their WCHA season series on Sunday, with the league lead on the line.
“I think every game that I play against them is more and more exciting and more fun,” Cameranesi said. “I really respect Wisconsin: their players, their coaches, and pretty much everything about them. It’s a great rivalry, and we love playing against each other.”
