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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“I just did everything I could to get the puck on net,” Cameranesi said. “It luckily slowly trickled into the net.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Karley Sylvester buried the rebound of a shot from Burke for the lone Badgers tally, as her team won the special-teams battle.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
That was the only good thing that Leveille allowed. She saved the other 23 shots.<\/p>\n
“I thought Amanda Leveille was tremendous,” Frost said.<\/p>\n
The game was Wisconsin’s first of 2015.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
The teams conclude their WCHA season series on Sunday, with the league lead on the line.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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