MADISON, Wis. – Senior Annie Pankowski notched her sixth career hat trick and freshman Britta Curl scored a pair of goals as the No. 2-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team defeated St. Cloud State, 8-0, Saturday at LaBahn Arena. With the victory, UW wins the first round WCHA Playoff series 2-0 and advances to next weekend's WCHA Final Faceoff in Minneapolis. 

Pankowski's three goals give her 21 on the season. She is just the third Badger in history to score at least 20 goals in four seasons, joining Meghan Duggan (2006-11) and Hilary Knight (2007-12). Her six career hat tricks is fourth-most in school history, trailing only Knight (9), Brianna Decker (8) and Meghan Hunter (7).

The Badgers jumped out to a 4-0 lead less than 16 minutes into the game and outshot the Huskies 21-2 in the first period. Pankowski, a Patty Kazmaier Award top-three finalist, got the Badgers on the board early, burying her 19th goal of the season just 3:40 into the game. 

A little over four minutes later, Curl notched her third goal of the weekend, stealing a clearing pass near the blue line, skating in and firing a wrist shot past St. Cloud State goaltender Emma Polusny.

After sophomore Caitlin Schneider made it 3-0 at the 14-minute mark, Curl notched her second goal of the day and fourth of the weekend. With the Badgers on the power play, junior Abby Roque's shot from the left circle hit freshman Sophie Shirley in front but Curl was able to bang in the rebound while falling to the ice. 

It was Curl's 20th goal of the season, making her the seventh Badger freshman to score 20+ goals in a season and first since Pankowski had 21 in 2014-15. She also joins Hunter (42 in 2000-01), Brooke Ammerman (27 in 2008-09), Duggan (26 in 2006-07), Kendra Antony (22 in 1999-00) and Knight (20 in 2007-08).

Pankowski joined Curl in the 20-goal club with 2:24 left in the second period, digging the puck out of the corner, skating to the front of the net and sliding the puck just past Polusny's left pad. Her goal just 1:09 into the third period, a redirection of sophomore Natalie Buchbinder's shot from the point, capped the hat trick.

Freshman Nicole Lamantia, who notched her second career goal, and junior Presley Norby, with her second goal of the weekend, finished the scoring for the Badgers.

Junior goaltender Kristen Campbell played the first two periods to notch the win and run her personal scoreless streak to 127:47 of game action.

Three Notes of the Game

• Wisconsin notched its 30th win of the season, marking the fourth-straight year the Badgers have won at least 30 games. That is the longest such streak in school history.
• UW's four-goal first period tied its highest scoring period this season. The Badgers have scored four goals in a period three other times this season, most recently in the first period against St. Cloud State on Dec. 7.
• The Badgers have beaten St. Cloud State 21-straight times, outscoring the Huskies 92-10 over that streak.

Straight from the Rink
Head Coach Mark Johnson
On Curl's play this weekend: 
"This time of the season, you want certain people to elevate their game and make contributions. Certainly, her play this weekend indicates that she's taken that responsibility."

On takeaways from the game: 
"We'll look at this as a real positive step. Now we get an opportunity to play Ohio State  again on Saturday. It's a short tournament, it only lasts two weekends, and we're one of the four teams to go on and get another game, and if you're successful in that one you get to play for a trophy on Saturday. We're in good position, I liked the way it went. We should have to feel some confidence and a bit of momentum because we saw the puck go in the net." 

On Annie Pankowski: 
"She's a special player. It's fun to watch her play. She's been a good player for four years, and a good player this year. As you get into playoffs, you want them to rise to the top. She was making a lot happen whether she was scoring or setting up others for a nice goal. It's good to see." 

Senior forward Annie Pankowski
On coming away with two wins:
"It's really exciting. You feel the energy in the locker room after that win and on the ice. We were kind of grateful to have this weekend to play and to work out some of those things that weren't going our way last weekend. This weekend, we really got our team going as a unit and that's going as a unit and that's something that's going to be really beneficial for us going down the shoot." 

On the mentality:
"I think it's grit. We've always had talented people. We've had people who can be clutch and show up like that. But we just have to be gritty, and that's something coach has been really harping on us. I think we have it in us, we just need to tap into that a little bit more, especially as the games get more intense and it's going to come down to one mistake, or one rebound, or one puck that's sitting in the crease. That's going to be a mentality shift for us for sure. 

Freshman forward Britta Curl
On exceeding her expectations this season:
"I think coming into the season, I had a pretty open mind, but I knew that I wasn't going to just pop right on and be one of the top players. It's taken some time and I've had a lot of teammates that have helped out. It's been a good season." 

On bouncing back from last weekend: 
"It's definitely a confidence boost going into next weekend. I think our whole team did a better job today getting pucks to the net obviously. That's a positive for everybody." 

On being one step closer to the net: 
"It feels really good. Everyone's just focused on Saturday. We have Ohio State and that's definitely going to be a challenge, so we're trying not to focus too much on Sunday. Everyone's a little fired up and ready to play them after last weekend." 

Up Next
The Badgers, who are seeded second in the WCHA Playoffs, will face No. 3 seed Ohio State on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. UW is looking for its fourth WCHA Playoff title in the last five years.