The 2019 class of the UW Athletic Hall of Fame has been selected and one new member will be announced each day from June 25 - July 6.
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MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin women's hockey program was six-plus seasons and 231 games old when Jessie (Vetter) McConnell made her goaltending debut, so it might be a stretch to call her a pioneer.
By the time McConnell started her first college game — she made 11 saves as a redshirt freshman in a 3-0 road shutout of Wayne State (Michigan) before a crowd of 218 on Jan. 7, 2006 — the Badgers had already played for five coaches and dealt with their share of adversity.
But McConnell was very much a pioneer for the program in the sense that Wisconsin, with former Badgers great Mark Johnson as coach, became a perennial powerhouse on her watch.
"It was a different type of pioneer in that we brought some championships, that tradition," she said.
During a four-season span from 2006 to '09, the Badgers played in four consecutive NCAA championship games and prevailed in three (2006, '07 and '09).
Wisconsin was 135-16-13 (.863) overall during that stretch, including a 26-2 mark in the playoffs during which time it amassed 13 shutouts.
In eight Frozen Four games, the Badgers outscored opponents 26-7. Four of the goals allowed came in one outing.
McConnell was in the middle of all that, winning awards and setting records left and right before becoming a two-time Olympian for Team USA.
Gallery: (7/3/2019) Hall of Fame 2019: Jessie Vetter
Meghan Duggan played three seasons with McConnell at Wisconsin and won two Olympic silver medals as her American teammate in 2010 and '14.
"She's definitely a pioneer," Duggan said. "Jessie was such a backbone of our team on the ice and off the ice with her poise and her character and just how calm she was. She brought such lightheartedness and ease to the locker room in those intense times."
If you're compiling a list of the most clutch, accomplished, enduring student-athletes in the history of Wisconsin athletics — male or female — who do you put ahead of McConnell?
"She's definitely at the top," Duggan said.
So it should be no surprise that McConnell — in her first year of eligibility — will be inducted in the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame. She's part of a 12-person class that will be honored during a banquet at Union South on Sept. 6 and during the football home opener at Camp Randall Stadium on Sept. 7.
"Very excited and honored to be a part of the Hall of Fame and this class being inducted this year," McConnell said.
The Badgers have won two more NCAA championships since McConnell graduated — 2011 and '19 — and three brilliant goaltenders — Alex Rigsby, Ann-Renee Desbiens and Kristen Campbell — have nudged the performance bar a little higher.
McConnell is no longer the program record-holder in career wins (Rigsby, 100 to 91) or shutouts (Desbiens, 55 to 39). Her career winning percentage is a tick below Desbiens (.848 to .842). As McConnell did in 2009, Desbiens won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the nation's best player in 2017.
But McConnell remains the only goaltender in NCAA history to win three titles. In those six Frozen Four victories she allowed a grand total of two goals with a staggering save percentage of .988. She remains one of four Wisconsin players in possession of three national championship rings. The others are Duggan in 2007, '09 and '11 and Erika Lawler and Angie Keseley in 2006, '07 and '09.
"I think what's most impressive about her is the poise and level of calm that she has done it all with," Duggan said of McConnell.
"One of my favorite things about her and why she was such a fantastic goaltender, when you think about that position and the pressure and stress it brings, she was always so calm back there. To be a player playing in front of her and to have that type of goaltender behind you taking deep breaths like that, it was a huge reason why we were so successful."
Video: Team USA Women Player Profile: Jessie Vetter, Goaltender (USA Hockey Youtube)
McConnell, who grew up in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin and cut her hockey teeth playing with and against boys, was asked what set her apart.
"First of all, as a goalie, I was lucky to be a part of a lot of great teams. For me as an athlete, I was always told to work hard and have fun and I always took that to heart. I worked my butt off and always had a smile on my face from the beginning of practice to the end of practice and all throughout games, winning or losing. I just really enjoyed myself.
"If you look back on it, if you gave 100 percent and did your best, you'd be happy with the result, win or lose."
McConnell said her greatest moment of satisfaction at Wisconsin came during her redshirt freshman season in 2005-06. It began with disappointment — she contracted mononucleosis and missed the entire first half — but ended with the euphoria that comes from winning the first NCAA title in program history.
Johnson had three exceptional goaltenders to choose from that season — junior Christine Dufour and senior Meghan Horras were the others — but he went with the homegrown rookie.
"Coach Johnson was nice enough to give me the nod throughout the playoffs," McConnell said. "That was a pretty special moment to walk away with that championship."
After earning a degree in sociology, McConnell was tabbed to backstop two U.S. Olympic squads. Neither ended in triumph, but she's satisfied.
"Growing up in Wisconsin, I always had a dream of playing for Wisconsin, playing in my home state and having my family come and watch me," McConnell said. "It was never a dream of mine (to be an Olympian), but as I got older, it definitely was exciting that I had that opportunity. Both are special moments for me."
Video: Badgers in the 2014 Olympics: Women's Hockey
Duggan said McConnell was the same person in both settings.
"She's just such a good friend and caring person," Duggan said. "She was friends with everyone on our team, friends with everyone in Madison, friends with all the other athletes. She's just a super, genuine person with such a big heart."
McConnell cheered her former U.S. teammates to the Olympic gold medal last February — Duggan was the captain, playing alongside Rigsby, Hilary Knight and Brianna Decker — then watched with joy in March of this year as the Badgers locked down the fifth NCAA crown in program history.
"It was a lot of fun to watch," McConnell said. "I hope it continues."
McConnell and her husband Scott were married in May of 2016. They have two sons — 2-year-old Brady and 4-month-old Jordan — and live in Cottage Grove.
"Being a mom, I'm having fun with that," she said.
Curiously, McConnell is now part of the first family of Wisconsin hockey. Scott McConnell's mother, Sandy, is Mark Johnson's older sister, which means Bob Johnson, the late Hall of Fame coach for the Wisconsin men's program, is Scott's grandfather.
Jessie is about to join Bob and Mark in the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.
"Kind of funny how it all comes full circle," Jessie said. "It's funny to think that now we're family."
UW Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2019
- Joe Thomas, Football
- Kelly (Kennedy) Saurer, Volleyball
- Otto Puls, Special Service
- Elzie Higginbottom, Track & Field
- Donovan Bergstrom, Cross Country and Track & Field
- Pat Christenson, Wrestling
- Gwen Jorgensen, Cross Country, Track & Field, Swimming
- Trent Jackson, Men's Basketball
- Jessie (Vetter) McConnell, Women's Hockey
- Next member announced July 4
