DULUTH, Minn. — Dani Cameranesi scored twice with an assist in the Gophers’ 6-2 defeat of the Bulldogs in the arena where her brother, Tony, plays for Minnesota-Duluth.
“It was a little more special because he got to watch,” Cameranesi said. “It was pretty exciting for me that he had an off weekend. I was just really happy that he was able to finally watch.”
She set up Kelly Pannek’s goal 88 seconds into the game, and the Gophers (27-3-1, 22-3-1-0 WCHA) led the rest of the way. Cameranesi put the game away with a pair of goals late in the second period 20 seconds apart, both set up by Kate Schipper.
“I think the new line is clicking really well with Pannek in the middle,” Cameranesi said. “She is really smart, and me and Kate Schipper on the side have pretty good speed going around the outside.”
UMD (12-19-1, 9-16-1-0 WCHA) kept the Gophers’ top line off the scoresheet five-on-five, but the visitors’ second line picked up the slack.
“Exactly what we were hoping for,” Minnesota coach Brad Frost said. “Kelly sees the ice so well, and then you’ve got two speedsters in Cameranesi and Schipper, so they just supplied a lot of relentless pressure here tonight and were able to bang a few home.”
Caitlin Reilly, Anna Barlow, and Amanda Kessel also scored for Minnesota, while Michela Cava and Katherine McGovern tallied for Minnesota-Duluth.
The Bulldogs got their first power play opportunities of the weekend, but were unable to convert. Meanwhile the Gophers clicked on their only chance, and finished the weekend four of four.
“Power play was real good again,” Frost said. “Our penalty kill was excellent, got tested quite a bit early on in the game there.”
UMD heads to St. Cloud State next weekend with fifth place in the WCHA at stake, while Minnesota hosts No. 2 Wisconsin.
“Really looking forward to it,” Cameranesi said. “Obviously a great rivalry, really exciting. Finally, being at home for the last game of the series will be Senior Night, so a lot of emotions. We’ll be preparing all week for them and really excited to get that series going.”
