Going into the most crucial weekend of the season, the confidence of the Wisconsin women’s hockey team is high. After beginning the season with a mediocre record, the Badgers have gone 14-2 the second half of the season.
“We’re right on track towards our goals as far as finishing up the season,” said starting netminder Jackie MacMillan. “We’ve really come together in the second half of the season, and we’re really finishing strong, and hopefully we can have a strong finish in the tournament this weekend.”
This weekend, at the WCHA Women’s Final Five, the second-seeded Badgers (21-10-2 overall, 17-6-1 WCHA), will face off against the third-seeded University of Minnesota- Duluth Bulldogs (21-5-4 overall, 16-5-3 WCHA).
“We’re going to have to be on our ‘A’ game [to beat the Bulldogs],” said Megan Hunter. “They are a fast team and are pretty big. We have to be strong on our sticks, get plenty of shots and put a lot of pressure on their goaltender.”
It will be a very evenly matched series this weekend; UMD came into Madison Nov. 2 and 3 and swept the Badgers, with one of the losses coming in overtime. However, just after the midway point of the season, the Badgers traveled to Duluth Jan. 6 and 7 and swept the Bulldogs.
UMD’s strength lies in its explosive offence — five Olympians, four of whom line up as forwards. Two Swedish players, Maria Rooth and Erika Holst, lead the Bulldog attack. Rooth has 22 goals and 13 assists, while Holst has 15 goals and 20 assists. Their third-leading scorer is Finnish Olympian Hanne Sikio, who has 14 goals and 16 assists to give her a total of 30 points on the year.
Looking to counter the Bulldogs’ aggressive offense is the No. 1-ranked defense in the country. Heading into the tournament, the Badgers have only allowed 47 goals in 33 games, a 1.41 goals-against average. Along the way, the squad also recorded nine shutouts, including seven in the last 13 games.
In spite of the UMD offence, the Badgers are not without firepower, as Hunter stands alone atop the WCHA in scoring, averaging 1.40 points per game.
“We’ve just started to gel in the second half of the season,” said Hunter. “We’ve started to talk a lot, and we’re really focusing on the small things and just working hard every shift and every practice.”
Since January, the team has continued to improve with each win, and they have continued to build a level of confidence that will prove useful come tournament time.
“We are looking [at a] video to see what was successful and what worked well against them in January,” said assistant coach Dan Koch. “Everything with this team starts with our defensive zone. This week we have been working on our defensive systems in all three zones of the ice. All of our players contribute, and hopefully that will make them shorten their bench.”
