Senior center Kelly Terry scored two third-period goals and Amanda Leveille posted her first shutout of the season for Minnesota in a 2-0 victory over visiting Wisconsin.
“Three times in the last four games, we’ve gone into the third period tied, and we’ve been able to come out with a win each time,” coach Brad Frost said. “It was great to see our kids push forward and not only get that one goal, but kind of close it out by getting that second one as well, giving us a little breathing room.”
With 5:42 gone in the final period, Terry got her stick on a rebound with goaltender Alex Rigsby out of position and the Gophers (4-0-0, 2-0-0 WCHA) got on the board first for the first time in their season.
“Those type of plays don’t happen very often, so when they do, it’s just like an amazing feeling,” Terry said. “It’s out of the blue; you don’t really have to work for it. I credit Rachel Ramsey for getting that shot through, along with the rest of our defense all night.”
Freshman Sydney McKibbon looked to have provided an equalizer for Wisconsin (2-2-0, 2-2-0 WCHA) soon after when she flew down the right side and beat Leveille to her glove side.
Badgers coach Mark Johnson said he couldn’t tell from the bench whether or not the puck had crossed the line.
“[The referee] indicated it was a goal, but you have review and it was overturned,” Johnson said. “You can’t argue. They’re looking at the video, and if it says it didn’t go in, it doesn’t go in.”
Instead, it was determined the puck hit the goalpost and caromed out for a non-goal.
“I thought it was — the sound it made and how it came out,” Frost said. “I was a little anxious when they called it a goal, but I’m glad they have some review up there.”
Other than a time when Leveille dropped a rebound and lost sight of it as her defense cleared it away, the Badgers were unable to solve the sophomore.
“It’s a matter of trying to get people to the net, create rebounds,” Johnson said. “We did an OK job of that tonight. We didn’t do a great job.”
Terry doubled the lead with six and a half minutes to play.
“Baylee Gillanders just took an awesome shot,” Terry said. “I saw it coming and I tried to tip it. I was actually worried it would be high-sticking, but it went through. So much traffic in front of the net, I wasn’t even sure until people started cheering.”
Terry’s line was dangerous all night, and had the best scoring chance of the first 40 minutes when she had Rigsby down.
“I just got in a little bit too close,” Terry said. “That was another one of those plays. Kate Schipper beat her man to the puck, that’s their strength, and got it to me and I guess it caught me off guard. I might lose some sleep over that but we had a good outcome, so I guess it’s okay.”
Freshman Dani Cameranesi had assists on both goals.
“I think me and Kate and Kelly all work really well together, because we all have a really good amount of speed,” Cameranesi said. “On the forecheck, it’s really easy for us to get to the puck first and get control of the puck.”
Leveille is making it look easy on the other end so far.
“She’s doing an amazing job and we’re just getting more and more confident in her,” Terry said. “It’s just like having Noora [Räty] back there again, because she’s just doing amazing.”
Leveille made 27 saves in earning the shutout, her fourth as a Gopher, and Rigsby denied 31 shots for Wisconsin.
“We have Lindenwood, and then St. Cloud [State], and then Ohio State, so we have six straight home games,” Johnson said. “You learn a lot about your team in this atmosphere.”
Minnesota travels north to face Minnesota-Duluth in a rivalry series.
