Third Time Sweetest: Pankowski steps into spotlight, lives dream scenario on world stage

A late cut by Team USA at the 2014 and 2018 Olympics, Annie Pankowski won the worlds in dramatic fashion.

Annie Pankowski has belted out The Star-Spangled Banner while standing arm-in-arm with her USA teammates at the World Championship before. Twice before, in fact, she’s stood atop the podium at the tournament, capturing gold at the 2015 and 2016 competitions. So, to see her doing it again at the 2019 tournament was nothing altogether new. What was different about Pankowski’s gold-medal celebration this time around, however, was that she was the one who made it possible.

In a sense, the 2019 World Championship was a coming-out party for 24-year-old Pankowski, who had the best big-stage performance of her career with four goals and seven points in seven games, the most important of which came in the final. Pankowski scored the Americans’ lone regulation tally in the gold-medal game, a pinpoint-accurate wrister that beat all-world Finnish keeper Noora Raty from the top of the circle. That was followed by the shootout winner, slid home after a deft fake shook Raty and left a yawning cage. “Going into the game I wasn’t thinking about, ‘OK, I need to score the only goal and score in the shootout,’ ” Pankowski said. “You don’t dream up scenarios like that. But to be successful when put into those situations and especially having gone down a long road of not coming out successful, it feels great to own those opportunities and leave my mark on the program.”

Pankowski’s journey to making such an impact on the world stage was an arduous one. A late cut from the 2014 Olympic team and cut again shortly before the 2018 Olympics, Pankowski has had to fight for a spot on the roster. “A lot of the mental game was hard, especially having a setback like the 2014 Olympics so young,” Pankowski said. “I didn’t quite know how to handle that and felt like every situation I was put in, I couldn’t handle. I’ve grown a lot in that aspect, and I’ve had a lot of coaches and teammates and mentors that have been phenomenal in helping me move through that and helping me realize the impact that I could make.”

Among Pankowksi’s supporters has been Hall of Famer Cammi Granato, Team USA’s longtime captain and an Olympic and World Championship gold medallist. The first meeting between the two came when Granato spoke to U.S. Olympic hopefuls at centralization ahead of the 2014 Sochi Games, and they crossed paths again at the 2018 Frozen Four, which Granato was attending in support of her niece and University of Wisconsin captain Baylee Wellhausen. “We passed each other in the hallway, and she said, ‘You’re Annie, right?’ ” Pankowski recalled. “I was starstruck that she remembered me. She said, ‘I just really hope you don’t give up.’ ”

Worried she had embarrassed herself by being so lost for words during their chance encounter, Pankowski later got in touch with Granato through Wellhausen, giving the two the chance to chat. In the time since, Granato has been “a good sounding board” for Pankowski, someone whom she has been able to rely on time and again when things got tough.

That Pankowski has been able to flourish in the face of setbacks is no surprise to Badgers associate coach Dan Koch. When he runs down the list of her strengths as a player, he notes her shot – he compares Pankowski’s blasts to that of superstar scorer Hilary Knight, which is undeniably high praise – and mentions the improvements Pankowski has made to her skating, strength on the puck and positioning. But he also stops for a moment to reflect on her character. “(She’s) hardworking, organized, very professional and always handled adversity and learned from it,” Koch said. “She really pushed herself to always get better, and I’m just happy it paid off.”

What Pankowski must answer now, though, is what comes next. She has summited the World Championship mountain three times, her 2019 performance undoubtedly the pinnacle. This season, the redshirt senior captured her first NCAA championship with Wisconsin, icing the game with a shorthanded goal in the second period. And with her 154-game and 206-point college career coming to an end, the assumption from some corners is that a star of her caliber, particularly one who was the first overall pick of the Metropolitan Riveters in the 2018 NWHL draft, is bound to step into the professional ranks, albeit their existence is on shaky ground following a boycott of all leagues by more than 200 women’s players.

However, Pankowski asserts she hasn’t thought an awful lot about the next steps in her playing career, though her academic plans have been cemented: she’s getting into the family business. Both of her parents are veterinarians, and Pankowski is enrolled in the University of Wisconsin’s School of Veterinary Medicine for the fall. “I’m not ready to not live this part of my academic dreams,” she said. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, and just in the timeline of my life, it’s a four-year school, so I couldn’t see myself putting it off for another three years and then going back.”

Don’t take that to mean Pankowski’s World Championship performance was her last hurrah with Team USA, however. In much the same way the Lamoureux sisters remained national-team fixtures despite never (Jocelyne) or barely (Monique, 17 CWHL games) playing in the pro ranks, Pankowski’s aim is to continue to develop her game regardless of whether she ends up on a pro team next season. She said she feels Wisconsin offers her a place to train, skate and do what’s necessary to be ready for international competition, adding that it’s “something that’s so unique, that we have an opportunity to do what’s best for us at the time. The program has faith in us that we’re preparing ourselves the way we need to be.”

And if she prepares the way she has over the past year and continues to take the necessary steps, the next time she makes a major mark on the program – and the next time she slings a gold medal around her neck – could very well be at the 2022 Olympics.

Pankowski ends her college career as one of Wisconsin’s all-time top players, a distinction she shares with these women

1. Meghan Duggan
Former Badgers captain won three NCAA titles at Wisconsin with dazzling international performances in between. Duggan captained Team USA to gold at the 2018 Olympics and ranks among the national team’s leaders in games played at the World Championship, where she won seven gold medals.

2. Hilary Knight
Arguably the biggest superstar in the game. Knight is the highest-scoring Badger in program history. Her 143 goals are third in NCAA history, and her 262 points rank eighth-all time. She has eight World Championship golds and one Olympic crown.

3. Brianna Decker
A winner at every level, Decker has captured CWHL, NWHL, World Championship and Olympic titles. Second all-time in Badgers scoring with 244 career points. A leader for Team USA, Decker is among the national team’s top scorers.

4. Meaghan Mikkelson
Two-time Olympic gold medallist won a pair of national titles as the Badgers’ top defender before paving the way for others in the professional game. Finished her tenure in NCAA with 114 points, third among all blueliners in program history.

5. Alex Rigsby
Burst onto the scene when she guided Wisconsin to the 2011 national championship as a freshman. One of five 100-win goaltenders in NCAA history and tied for fifth in career save percentage. Won gold with Team USA at 2018 Olympics.