Fill the Bowl unforgettable game, experience for No. 1 Badgers
January 14, 2017 | Women's Hockey, Andy Baggot
UW breaks its own NCAA attendance record Saturday at the Kohl Center
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin women's hockey coach Mark Johnson remembers a time years ago when he would gaze out at an empty Kohl Center and daydream about his team someday playing before a packed house.
What would it feel like?
How would his players react?
How would such a moment ever come to life?
Those answers and more were realized Saturday afternoon when the top-ranked Badgers eased to a 2-0 victory over St. Cloud State and completed a sweep of their Western Collegiate Hockey Association series.
A day after rolling to a 9-0 triumph over the Huskies at adjacent LaBahn Arena, UW put on a show before a landmark "Fill The Bowl" audience of 15,359 at the Kohl Center.
The crowd, lured by $1 tickets and the opportunity to donate non-perishable food items to a local charity, set a NCAA single-game record and is the largest to see a women's hockey game in the U.S.
The gathering for the fifth "Fill The Bowl" promotion broke the previous NCAA record of 13,573 onlookers, which was established in February of 2014 when the Badgers hosted Minnesota in a WCHA game.
Johnson has played and coached in front of massive crowds before — at UW, the Olympics and the NHL — but few were as special as this one.
"It amazed me how the community embraced this," he said.
"It put a smile on my face. Just made me happy that people are willing to do those type of things and give my players and my staff and experience that's once in a lifetime."
The crowd was the eighth largest to see a women's hockey game anywhere in the world. All were staged in Canada and most were associated with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
"It's awesome for women's hockey," UW junior center Emily Clark said after she accounted for the game-winning goal with a second-period conversion on the power play.
"It's awesome for us. It just shows how much pride Madison has in their sports teams and it's pretty cool to be a part of it."
Some perspective: The 14 NCAA Division I women's games from Friday night drew 8,321, including the 2,161 that showed up at LaBahn.
The over-sized, towel-waving crowd served as an apt backdrop for the Badgers, who own the best record (20-2-1 overall, 15-2-1 in the WCHA) as well as the top offense and defense in the country.
Five members of the current Wisconsin senior class — defenseman Mellissa Channell, right winger Mikayla Johnson, center and captain Sydney McKibbon, left winger Sarah Nurse and defenseman Jenny Ryan — played in the last "Fill The Bowl" game in 2014. They remember the 4-0 loss to the archrival Gophers and were determined to make amends.
"It's definitely something I'm going to remember forever," McKibbon said.
Award-winning UW senior goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens didn't play in the 2014 loss and darn near didn't play in this one, either.
She'd been sidelined with a knee injury suffered in mid-December playing for Team Canada in an international game vs. Team USA. She was told she might not heal in time, but playing in the "Fill The Bowl" affair was a major incentive.
"I had it circled on my calendar," she said.
"Of all our players, she was the most excited," Johnson said.
Desbiens followed up her 17-save effort in the series opener with 12 stops to run her NCAA-record for career shutouts to 48, including 10 this season.
Desbiens, from La Malbaie, Quebec, played with her parents, Raynald and Claire, on hand. Before the game she was seen posing for photos with fans and checking out the flow of humanity.
"I wish to any women's hockey player to have the chance to play in front of a crowd like that," Desbiens said.
When UW players and coaches gathered Saturday morning to watch video from the series opener, Johnson told them to treat the "Fill The Bowl" game like any other.
"Whatever you do for any other game, do that today," he said.
Some did.
Some didn't.
"There was a lot of jitters for everyone," McKibbon said. "We were going a little bit harder in warm-ups than we needed to."
That carried over into a scoreless first period.
"You're so excited for the moment that you end up hurting yourself from the standpoint of being ready to play," Johnson said.
The deflection by Clark on the only power play of the game helped everyone relax. It gave her 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in the last five outings and a good feeling about the weeks ahead.
"A lot of confidence going into the second half," she said.
Junior left winger Baylee Wellhausen accounted for the second conversion, banging a loose puck past goaltender Janine Alder early in the third.
Wisconsin racked up a season-best 61 shots and Alder finished with 59 saves for the Huskies (6-16-2, 4-13-1).
"They kept it exciting," McKibbon said.
"Their goaltender with the star of the day," Johnson said.
During the National Anthem, Johnson couldn't resist looking around at the extraordinary scene.
"You just sort of want to freeze time and just stand there and enjoy the moment," he said. "The two hours go by quickly."
The memories are going to live a long, long time.
Clark said she'll remember the crowd going wild when the Badgers skated onto the ice for warm-ups amid waving white towels.
She'll also remember her goal.
"The noise is something I won't forget for sure," she said.
Desbiens spent her idle time on-ice looking for familiar faces in the audience.
"The fans are amazing," she said. "One more time they showed how awesome they are."
Did the experience live up to the expectations?
"It blew them away," McKibbon said.
