A Masterpiece Season
March 25, 2019 | Women's Hockey, Andy Baggot, Varsity Magazine
Women’s hockey unstoppable en route to fifth NCAA Championship
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Annie Pankowski has an advanced sense of maturity that Wisconsin women's hockey coach Mark Johnson noticed right off the bat.
She had just completed her freshman year of high school when she came to Madison on an unofficial campus visit as a 15-year-old. Pankowski stopped by on the way from her home in Laguna Hills, California, to the prestigious North American Hockey Academy in Jay, Vermont.
Not only did she make the trip alone, she did so by design. Johnson remembers thinking it amazing because most kids he knew wouldn't think of flying cross-country by their lonesome at that age.
"I came on my own," Pankowski explained, "because I wanted to make the decision on my own without my parents."
That's not a knock on her parents, Richard and Diane, as much as it was a confident, hyper-aware teenager holding herself accountable to her future.
Pankowski left Madison knowing she would choose the Badgers over a lineup of East Coast suitors, a decision that grew smarter over time.
That growth process reached a zenith here Sunday afternoon with Pankowski joyously clutching the ultimate prize.
The senior co-captain and right winger closed out one of the greatest playoff performances at any level with a goal that helped top-ranked Wisconsin topple second-rated Minnesota 2-0 and claim the fifth NCAA championship in program history at People's United Center.
Pankowski's team-best 28th conversion of the season was her 11th in seven March outings dating back to the start Western Collegiate Hockey Association postseason. It also came shorthanded, giving her a school-record nine for her career.
"She's just a class act kid," Johnson said. "I couldn't be happier for her."
After five straight fruitless trips to the Frozen Four, the Badgers (35-4-2 overall) finally broke through, securing their first national title since 2011 and doing so at the expense of their WCHA archrivals.
The other senior co-captain, center and Minnesota native Sophia Shaver, accounted for the winning goal, while junior Kristen Campbell finished off the most dominant goaltending show in NCAA tournament history on the way to being named Most Outstanding Player.
Campbell stopped all 56 shots she faced in three outings, including 27 in the championship match, marking the first time a team won all three NCAA games via shutout. Wisconsin blanked Syracuse 4-0 in the quarterfinals and two-time defending champion Clarkson 5-0 in the semifinals.
"It was a beautiful game all around," Pankowski said.
That's a school record for @anniepank as that's her NINTH career shorty!
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) March 24, 2019
The season-ending victory brought the curtain down on a series of keepsake moments for the Badgers. Not only did they celebrate a WCHA playoff title during the 20-year anniversary of the league, they stood proudly by as Johnson had his No. 10 retired by the Wisconsin men's team.
Johnson used the word "masterpiece" to describe how his club imposed its will on the six-time national champion Gophers (32-6-1) during their sixth meeting of the season.
The Badgers got the vital first goal in the opening period when Shaver thumped a pretty centering feed from junior right winger Presley Norby, another Minnesotan, past goaltender Alex Gulstene.
How does it feel for Shaver, from Wayzata, to go into Wisconsin lore at the expense of her home state?
"I'm just happy our team won," she said. "I can't think about anything else right now."
Pankowski provided a measure of breathing room in the second when she flicked an audacious, tough angle backhander past Gulstene, beating her top shelf on the short side.
That was more than enough for Campbell, who came to Wisconsin after North Dakota abruptly dropped its program and wowed her new coaches and teammates with her work ethic and focus.
A two-time WCHA Goaltender of the Year, Campbell said she was motivated by an overtime loss to Colgate in the NCAA semifinals last March. She said she printed out a picture of the People's United Center and looked at it every day.
"Can't thank the coaching staff enough for taking a risk on me, taking a chance to bring me into this program," Campbell said. "As soon as I got the opportunity I knew I'd make the most of it."
The 2019 #WFrozenFour Most Outstanding Player - Kristen Campbell of @BadgerWHockey.
— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) March 24, 2019
The game marked the ninth time since 2001 the border rivals had faced one another with an opportunity to end the other's season with a loss. Wisconsin prevailed for the fifth time.
Johnson's pregame speech to his team had a theme.
"Whatever it takes," Campbell recalled.
"We talked about doing certain things and we executed," Johnson said. "I enjoyed watching it unfold before my eyes.
"I was comfortable today. I felt we were in a good place. I thought we were going to be able to execute. At no point did I feel like we were going to lose the hockey game."
The only thing Johnson didn't see coming after his 494th career coaching win at his alma mater was the traditional bucket of ice water being dumped on his head.
"Some coaches probably don't like it," he said with a huge smile, "but I'll take them all the time because that means something good has happened."
Pankowski smiled when told that Johnson characterized the win as a masterpiece.
"He's been incredible for us leading the way and showing us what to do," she said. "With his confidence and his excitement, it's hard not to play that way."
Coach Mark Johnson talking about the @BadgerWHockey star Annie Pankowski.
— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) March 24, 2019
In the postgame dressing room, Johnson gathered everyone together around the championship trophy and told his players and support staff that they had an equal share in the achievement.
"It takes everyone," he said. "A lot of people made this happen."
Pankowski, 24, has evolved from the heady teenager in search of a dream into an honor student who has been accepted into the School of Veterinary Medicine and who recently became a homeowner.
She was a finalist for both the Hockey Humanitarian Award, given to college hockey's premier citizen, and the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the best women's player in the college game.
Her humanitarian work focuses on training guide dogs for the visually impaired, a project inspired in part by the fact her parents are vets.
During a ceremony Saturday, Pankowski watched with her teammates as Clarkson left winger Loren Gabel won the Kazmaier. When Pankowski boarded the team bus back to the hotel, she responded to sympathetic sentiment about the vote with a declaration.
"That trophy wasn't for us, but tomorrow's is," Pankowski told her teammates.
"It got us all going," Shaver said.
Call it a gut feeling.
"Whatever 'it' is, we have it," Pankowski said.
The Kazmaier ballots were cast well before Pankowski finished crafting her season-ending, seven-game goal-scoring streak, but a closer look shows her clutch tendencies probably should have gotten a closer look.
She finished her career with 96 goals and 110 assists, ranking sixth in program history with 206 points in 153 games. In addition to joining center Sara Bauer, the 2006 Kazmaier winner, as the only four-time leading scorer in school history, Pankowski accounted for 45 goals in the third period or overtime, including 14 this season.
CUT. THAT. NET. ✂️ 🏆 #OnWisconsin
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) March 24, 2019
At one point during the postgame celebration, Pankowski skated over to the Wisconsin bench and handed swatches of the goal net to several young girls gathered nearby.
"They get to hang onto that forever and keep dreaming," Pankowski said.
Pressed for why she took the time to make such a gesture, Pankowski offered a verbal shrug.
"I guess it's about inspiring the next generation," she said.
Pankowski's college career was pock-marked by two instances where she was the final cut from the U.S. Olympic team. She not only endured, she blossomed into one of the best players in Wisconsin history, her legacy attached to an NCAA championship trophy.
Johnson said Pankowski continues to impress him on and off the ice.
"Just how mature she is and the kind of character she has," he said. "Her integrity and putting others ahead of herself."
Pankowski initially begged off a request to quantify her legacy.
"It doesn't feel real yet," she said.
But she touched on its essence during the postgame press conference.
"To leave this amazing program with a national championship is something I'll cherish forever," she said.
