The Wisconsin women?s hockey team washed the bad taste out of its mouth from the previous loss to the University of Minnesota-Duluth with a resounding sweep of Bemidji State this past weekend.
As usual, their defense led the way.
Starting junior Jessie Vetter in goal Friday and sophomore Alannah McCready Saturday, the Badgers posted consecutive shutouts, winning their games 4-0 and 3-0, respectively.
?It is very important,? senior Mikka Nordby said of playing two different goaltenders. ?We have gained confidence in both goaltenders, and that gives the rest of the team confidence knowing that we have someone strong between the pipes.?
?The only drop off (between Vetter and McCready) is in experience,? UW head coach Mark Johnson said. ?Jessie is now a junior and has played through a lot of pressure-filled situations. She has played in a lot of big games for us and has carried the load this year. With your second and third goalies, you try to find time and try to get them some game experience, and today was a chance for us.?
UW?s defense was successful for many reasons, but its main strength this weekend was its ability to control the puck. The Badgers outshot the Beavers 46-11 Friday, and 42-12 Saturday.
?Puck possession is very important,? senior defenseman Emily Morris said. ?Coach always compares the puck to an iPod, and he says, ?you wouldn?t give away an iPod, would you?? We use that analogy, and try to maintain puck possession for the majority of the game.?
The Badgers ? who lead the WCHA with a mere 1.26 goals allowed per game ? believe there are a lot of little things the defense does, which sets them above the competition.
?Probably the biggest thing is not taking a lot of penalties,? Johnson said about the defense?s success. ?Five on five we generally play pretty solid, and we don?t give teams a lot of opportunities. ? This weekend we didn?t take many penalties either night, so they didn?t have a lot of power plays and that limited their opportunities.?
?Our breakouts were clicking, forwards were talking and we moved the puck quickly, which we worked on all week in practice.? Morris added.
These two shutouts were especially important to the defense after splitting the series last weekend with UMD and giving up five goals in two games.
?The light is at the end of the tunnel,? Johnson said. ?We have got two more games in the regular season and the playoffs, so we talked about it last week. I told them we have to take it up a notch here because after next weekend, it is do or die. If you play well then you win and move on; if you lose, then it ends real quickly.?
