[media-credit name=’AJ MACLEAN/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The Wisconsin women’s hockey team (20-7-1, 14-7-1 WCHA) hosts the Ohio State Buckeyes (14-12-2, 11-12-1 WCHA) for the second half of their season series this weekend. Ohio State sits only six points behind the Badgers for third place in the WCHA, and a series sweep by the Buckeyes would leave them only two points behind and in a position to challenge for that third spot behind the runaway Minnesota Gophers and UMD Bulldogs.

When these two teams met earlier this season in Columbus, the Badgers took the first game, 2-0, as Meghan Horras picked up the shutout, her first of the season. But the Buckeyes weren’t going to lie down for the Badgers, and they came out strong in the second game, winning 3-1 and handing the Badgers their first and possibly most disappointing loss of the season.

Since then, Ohio State has gone 11-9-2 and has even made into the nation’s top 10 rankings. Wisconsin has had a little more success, going 15-6-1 since their last meeting, narrowly missing a couple opportunities to defeat top-ranked Minnesota.

Ohio State has been helped by the offense of two of its forwards. Junior Jana Harrigan has scored 42 points thus far, good for sixth in the WCHA, on 14 goals and 28 assists. Senior Jeni Creary is 10th in the conference with 33 points, 20 of which were goals. It will be up to the Badger defense to put a stop on these two forwards, especially with a player in the penalty box, as Creary is second in the conference with 12 power-play goals.

Wisconsin is clicking on offense itself, however. The team pounded in 10 goals against Minnesota State last weekend at the Kohl Center, including a hat trick from forward Sara Bauer, who now has 20 goals this season and leads the team in scoring. Wisconsin also benefited from the return of forward Lindsay Macy, who was out for several weeks for disciplinary reasons. Macy notched a goal and two assists in the series, bringing her season total to 15 goals and 16 assists. The trio of Macy, Bauer and forward Sharon Cole had made up one of the most dangerous scoring lines in the country before Macy’s departure, and with her return, they should once again dominate opposing defenses.

Wisconsin will need that offense as they face off against a goalie tandem that has struggled since these squads met, but held its own against the Badger attack. The goalies combined to give up only three goals in the series to a team that was averaging more than five goals per game going into those matches, and Erika Vanderveer made 34 saves on 35 shots in the second game to get the win.

The Badgers go into the weekend without two of its players: forward Meaghan Mikkelson and defender Bobbi-Jo Slusar. The pair is playing with the Canadian Under-22 National Team, missing last Sunday’s game and both games this weekend. Head coach Mark Johnson doesn’t think their absence will have too great an effect to overcome this weekend.

“If we play the way we played Sunday, with that same jump and that same energy level, and move the puck like we did, we should create some scoring opportunities,” Johnson said of his team’s play without Mikkelson and Slusar.

More importantly, though, the Badgers want to finish the regular season strong, with only three weeks remaining to play. Wisconsin has never played in the NCAA Frozen Four, and though the championship bracket has been expanded from four teams to eight, the Badgers still want to make a statement to the voters and ensure themselves a good seed in the playoffs.

“The light’s at the end of the tunnel right now,” Johnson said. “The season’s so long. We start in the middle part of September, we’re in the middle part of February, and we get into March, that’s a long season. The girls can see the light now. They can see what’s at the end, and you don’t relax now. You push yourself even harder, because you know in the next four or five weeks, if you do well the rewards are really high.”

If the Badgers sweep the series, they will secure the third spot in the WCHA. With that and much more on the line, they will be craving victory this weekend against the Buckeyes.