SPORTS
Wisconsin moves on, ready to face North Dakota
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Also by Gregory Dixon:
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by Gregory Dixon
Friday, December 7, 2007
For Wisconsin hockey, an impending matchup with traditional
rival North Dakota is rarely "what the doctor ordered." But, at least for this
year, women's hockey might have finally lucked out.
The Badgers, currently in third place in the WHCA and coming
off a particularly hard overtime loss to the University of Minnesota-Duluth,
have struggled over the past few weeks, going 1-4-1 over the last six contests,
a far cry from their blistering start of 9-2-1.
"Last Saturday's loss (to UMD) was tough to deal with,"
Badger head coach Mark Johnson said. "But, you'll have those kinds of games.
You just have to learn from them and move on to the next one."
After such a tough loss, one would expect the players to be
down on themselves going into the next week of practice, but that has been far
from the case, according to Johnson.
"When I went into practice on Monday, I didn't know what the
frame of mind would be among the girls," Johnson said. "But after it I was impressed
with how they all conducted themselves and worked on improving their games for
this weekend."
One of the things needing improvement is surely the Badgers'
shooting, which had definitely taken a dip from its production early in the
season. With only three goals scored on 66 shots over the weekend, the women
will certainly need to improve their shooting percentage to come away with a
sweep this weekend against the Fighting Sioux.
Of course, UMD does have one of the better goalies in the
conference in Kim Martin, whose 9-3-1 record as a starter this season had
certainly aided the Bulldogs' climb to the top of the traditionally tough WCHA.
This weekend's goalie, North Dakota's Brittany Kirkham, will
give the Badgers a chance to return to their high-scoring ways, something that
has led the way to many a UW victory this season.
Kirkham, who has started all but two games this year for
UND, gives up an average of 3.10 goals a game to her opponents. Interestingly,
the Badgers are 10-0 when scoring three or more goals in a game this fall. This
will likely bode well for the Badgers, who haven't scored more than two goals
since their series-opening seven-goal outburst against Bemidji State two
weekends ago, also Wisconsin’s last win.
Senior captain Emily Morris feels this weekend's series will
be a great barometer for her team, which has had, according to her, "a
frustrating couple of weeks."
"North Dakota always seems to give us a very good series,
even though they are still developing as a program. We don't want to take them
lightly, though — we're going to make a statement this weekend so we can get
back on track before we head off to winter break," Morris said.
Certainly, with nearly a month until its next game (Jan. 4
versus Minnesota State), the team could definitely use all the momentum it can
get before the players head home for the holidays.
Wisconsin doesn't even return to the Kohl Center to play
until Jan. 25 when it hosts St. Cloud State, currently tied for fourth in the
conference.
Johnson echoed Morris, remarking that their trip to Sioux
country is going to be very important for the team's confidence heading
forward.
"Going out on a positive note is going to be extremely
helpful for our confidence as we move into the second half of the season,"
Johnson said.
With their long break looming, the Badgers recognize that a
little Fighting Sioux, followed by a relaxing holiday, looks to be just what
the doctor ordered to end their current woes.
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