Going into the winter break, the Wisconsin women's hockey team was coming off of a series against lowly division rival St. Cloud State. The Badgers seemed off of their game, settling for two ties in the series after allowing St. Cloud to come back from a three-goal deficit in the second game. Some of the Badgers felt that the team had lost focus and was looking ahead to the winter break just a bit too much.
Whatever the Badgers did over break seems to have fixed that. In the six games since they returned, Wisconsin has come away with six victories, four shutouts and just two goals against. Its unbeaten streak stands at 11 games.
The Badgers will look to keep their momentum going this weekend when they host Minnesota State. Back in November, Wisconsin handily swept Minnesota State, outscoring the Mavericks 9-2. After the abysmal series, MNSU will certainly be looking for a little payback.
Fortunately for the Mavericks, they aren't the same team the Badgers beat last November. Currently, Minnesota State is riding a seven-game winning streak — a new record for the program. Just as impressive, it swept the Minnesota Gophers, who are ranked third in the conference.
Wisconsin isn't the same team either. Head coach Mark Johnson recently made several line changes in an effort to present a new look and attack to opposing teams. The most prominent change was moving freshman forward Meghan Duggan to the first line alongside senior Sara Bauer and junior Jinelle Zaugg.
It seems to be working so far. Duggan netted a goal and three assists during last weekend's sweep over North Dakota, earning her the WCHA Rookie of the Week award for the third time this season.
"[Duggan] has continued to get better," Johnson said. "She works at it and is very competitive both on and off the ice [and works at] becoming the best player she's capable of becoming. We had her at national camp over Christmas break and she did very well out there. … She has continued to get better as a player and [has] improved in all different areas."
Duggan has already racked up 32 points (17 goals, 15 assists) this season, which is most among freshmen in the conference and ties her for second among rookies nationally. She and Zaugg are also tied for the second most points on the team behind the NCAA points leader, Bauer.
Looking at the specific matchup, Wisconsin holds the edge over Minnesota State in most categories, including goaltending. The duo of senior Christine Dufour and sophomore Jessie Vetter are leading the WCHA in winning percentage, and are among the best in goals-against average and save percentage. On the other side of the ice, MNSU's junior goalie Britni Kehler has mediocre numbers in all three categories.
Not only does UW hold the edge in goaltending, its special teams are also better. Wisconsin's power play is converting nearly one-third of all power play opportunities — best in the WCHA. The Badgers get it done defensively as well, as they hold the best penalty kill in the conference. Minnesota State, on the other hand, has a mediocre power play and its penalty kill unit is the third worst in the conference.
In all likelihood, Minnesota State will need more than luck to defeat Wisconsin this weekend. The problem is that even luck has never been on the Mavericks' side. Minnesota State has failed to pick up a single win versus the Badgers, going 0-29-1 all-time.
While history is rooting against them, the Mavericks do possess formidable scoring punch. Although they don't have one bona fide goal scorer, they do have four players with 20 points or more. Led by former Badger Lindsay Macy, who has 28 points, the four players have the potential to sneak up on the Badgers' defense and goaltenders.
"Minnesota State is a very equal team," Vetter said. "Each line will have a good goal scorer; … with Minnesota State you always have to be ready, and at any point in time some player can come down and snipe one on you. So you just have to be focused the whole game and be ready to play."
With both teams riding a hot streak, someone will have to give. The Badgers will be looking to keep things rolling on both offense and defense, while the underdog Mavericks will be looking to keep their streak alive and win for the first time against UW.
"They've won seven games in a row and they just upset Minnesota in back-to-back games," Johnson said. "[The Mavericks are] obviously very confident and excited about the way they're playing and are trying to come and win a couple games in here in Madison. Our job is to continue doing some of the things we're capable of doing … it will be a good competitive series, and hopefully we'll be able to come out on top in both games."
