Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. Minnesota State
Feb. 24, 2017
Madison, Wis. - LaBahn Arena

Head Coach Mark Johnson
Thoughts on the game:
"The five-on-five was pretty good. Unfortunately, there were times when there wasn't much of it but I thought it was good game. We had good energy. There were six penalties in the first period so that gets us out of rhythm with something we weren't ready for. The second period we started off with a power play and capitalized on it and again with a short-handed goal. Those two plays gave us some momentum to finish off the rest of the game even though it was early in the second period."

On whether not seeing the goalie played a factor in the scoreless first:
"Nope, we just played a lot more five-on-five than we did in the first period. She's coming off two starts last week against Bemidji. It was just a matter of getting quality opportunities and getting the puck by her. We did a pretty good job of that after the first period."

On getting seven goals in two periods:
"It was the rhythm of the game. When you have six penalties in the first it just makes it difficult to get any kind of flow going. When we do have a full five, we're going to play these guys or anybody else. It gives us an opportunity for us to do what we do well. When you go back and forth with power plays, it takes everyone out and certain players don't play as much as they usually would. Most of the second period and parts of the third we had a good rhythm going."

On getting experience playing three-on-five in the third period:
"They just did what they needed to do. They played aggressively and blocked a couple shots and won a faceoff. When they got the puck through all of that, Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped it. It's a good time for them to create scoring opportunities but we did a good job with our energy and got ourselves through the situation."

On the different style of play this weekend:
"It's about coming to the rink with some energy and enthusiasm. What I've seen the last couple days of practice, I thought it was going to be a pretty good night. Then you have to drop the puck and play and adjust to what's going on in the game. For the most part, we held the puck a lot and created some great chances."

Annie Pankowski
On a frustrating opening period:
"It was good for this team to go out and get a few shorthanded goals. It shows the poise that we have even when we're outnumbered."

On whether a new goalie made a difference to the Badger attack:
"Not really. We just stuck to our game plan." 

On ending the season with two tough series:
"We're trying to make it so that these games we're playing now are at the level and intensity we want to bring when we do play tougher games."

On coming out tomorrow ready to play:
"When we sell out LaBahn, that helps a lot. For our seniors, it could be the second-to-last-time they play here. Having that and the fans makes it so much easier."

On making the breakthrough in the second and whether there were changes:
"It just shows our poise. We don't force anything that we don't have to and we possess the puck when we need to. The opportunities come with patience."

Sydney McKibbon
On scoring two goals right away in the second period:
"I think we had a good period in the first. We hit a couple posts but I think we were outplaying them and that carried into the second period. It was nice to finally get rewarded right away off that."
 
On keeping the pace up:
"I think we just have to focus on us. Obviously it's hard to end a team's season, so we just focus on us, stay competitive and working hard for 60 minutes."
 
On how she leads:
"We have a lot of leaders on this team, so it's easy to lead when you have a good senior class. I think the freshmen know what to do. We had two good weekends the last two weekends, so I think we're prepared and ready to go for the playoffs."
 
On getting out of stretches where the puck isn't going in:
"It was definitely frustrating up in Minnesota and we weren't scoring. We were getting pucks to the net, I think we hit a couple posts up there. I think we're doing all the right things but it's nice to finally get rewarded and get different people contributing and putting the puck on the net.
 
"I think we just have to stay positive. We have to keep focusing on us and keep putting the puck to the net because eventually one is going to go in. If we have traffic, people driving to the net and making it tough on their goalie, that's kind of what we try to focus on."
 
On whether or not the team changed strategies with MSU using a shorter goalie:
"No really. We didn't really know who was going to start and they put their freshman in. She had a good weekend last weekend. I think we just tried to put the puck to the net and continued to do that each period and obviously it started to work in the second period."
 
On coming back tomorrow with the same energy:
"Just continuing on from the second and third period, I thought those were really strong periods and I thought everyone was contributing. Like I said, it's going to be a tough game for [Minnesota State] tomorrow, it could potentially end their season. They're going to give their best effort, they're going to give all they have, so we definitely have to play well for 60 minutes."