HAMDEN, Connecticut — The soup got hot at just the right time for the Wisconsin Badgers.

Kristen “Soupy” Campbell stopped all 27 shots she saw in Sunday afternoon’s national title game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, posting her third consecutive shutout—all of them coming in the NCAA Tournament—en route to a 2-0 win and Wisconsin’s first championship since 2011.

Sophia Shaver gave the Badgers the only goal they’d ultimately need when she opened the scoring midway through the first period, and sensational senior Annie Pankowski doubled that advantage about halfway through the second period when she beat Minnesota netminder Alex Gulstene on a shorthanded breakaway to make it a two-goal advantage.

That was more than enough for Campbell, a redshirt junior who capped off a phenomenal season—the redshirt junior transfer from the now-defunct North Dakota program entered the game with a 34-4-2 record, 1.06 goals against average, .937 save percentage and 10 shutouts—with the hardware she’d envisioned winning ever since a heartbreaking loss in last year’s Frozen Four semifinals.

“Honestly, I just think my team in front of me, we were willing to do whatever it takes to get the puck out whenever we needed to and it’s a complete team effort,” Campbell said.

“Sure, you can look at a goalie getting a shutout, but it’s all about the team in front of you, too. They have to be making the plays for you to get that done. I just couldn’t be more proud of how the team was able to execute in this postseason run.”

One shutout? Sure, team effort.

Three straight? It’s that and then some.

“I was Soupy’s roommate last year when we fell short, and she has been visualizing this game since they lost last year,” Pankowski said. “It wasn’t a fluke, she was ready.”

It seemed both teams were ready at the start; the first period was something of a feeling-out process, save for Shaver’s goal, but it was the second where the momentum really seemed to go Wisconsin’s way. The Badgers not only killed off both penalties they took, but Pankowski’s shorthanded tally during their second penalty kill ended up as the dagger.

After Shaver worked through traffic and buried a feed from Presley Norby at the 10:20 mark of the first period, Pankowski made her last goal in a Badgers uniform a memorable one, taking advantage of Abby Roque forcing a turnover at the offensive zone blueline.

“It started from the D zone, I just wanted to get that puck out,” Pankowski said. “As soon as I got it out, Abby had a great forecheck, a great angle, and was able to turn it over. As she dished that puck out to me, I saw a lane to the net and looked up and saw a forward, so I knew I could take the puck to the net a little bit harder than I could if maybe I saw somebody else. As I drove the left-hand lane, I noticed that the goalie, she didn’t move with me. I saw that top corner and put it right there.” 

Pankowski’s shot didn’t have much room to squeak through Gulstene, but it found a way. It was the kind of “puck luck” that Minnesota didn’t seem to be getting against Campbell.

“We were close, but not close enough tonight,” said Golden Gophers head coach Brad Frost.

“We were just inches, half-seconds away from things… I thought our team played well, but it’s an occupational hazard. Somebody’s going to lose when you step into the ring or onto the ice, and unfortunately it was us. But I loved the compete of our team … getting the first goal was going to be big tonight, and we knew as a staff it was going to be a low-scoring game. Goals were going to be at a premium … We’ve only had one D on our power play most of the year, and I don’t think we’ve given up more than two or three shorties all year. But that was a high-level play Pankowski, sometimes you’ve got to just tip your cap to a great player. To shelf it short-side like that, that one hurt. That was a huge turning point.”

The emotions were still very raw with the Golden Gophers; players were wiping tears from their eyes at the press conference, and senior winger Taylor Williamson had yet to even take her uniform off when she addressed the media.

On the flip side, the jubilation both on the ice in the celebration and off the ice in speaking with the media was unmistakable for the WCHA-powerhouse Badgers.

“There were two minutes left, and I was on the bench waiting to go back out, and that’s when it all hit me, and I started having tears streaming down my face,” said Wisconsin senior defenseman Maddie Rolfes.

“I was like, ‘Maddie, you have to go back out, you can’t be crying right now.’ Since then, it just feels surreal, it feels amazing. I’m really excited to get back to Madison and bring the trophy home.”