[media-credit name=’AJ MACLEAN/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The No.4-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team will wrap up its regular season this weekend with a series against the St. Cloud State Huskies (9-19-4, 7-16-3 WCHA). The Badgers (24-7-1, 18-7-1 WCHA) travel to the frozen tundra of Minnesota carrying a six-game winning streak in three straight series sweeps. During that span they have outscored opponents 31-7.

These two teams last met Halloween weekend at the Kohl Center. The Badgers took care of the Huskies in decisive fashion, winning 7-0 and 7-1 as Sara Bauer scored her second hat trick of the season in Friday’s contest.

But St. Cloud will be coming into this series with some bounce in its step. In a season otherwise filled with struggles, the Huskies took out conference powerhouse Minnesota-Duluth 4-3 in a come-from-behind effort just two weeks ago. They also upset then-No.6 St. Lawrence 2-0 in December. With that in mind, the Badgers head into this series wary of an upset.

“You can’t take anyone for granted,” team captain Carla MacLeod said. “They beat Duluth two weekends ago, and that just shows you anything can happen in our league. We can’t go in there saying, ‘Oh, we beat them twice back in October.’ I don’t think we’re going to take it for granted. We’re going to approach it like we’ve been approaching every game this season.”

The Badgers may receive a shot in the arm from the return of injured goalie Christine Dufour this weekend. Dufour went down several weeks ago with a leg injury that has kept her off skates until this week, when she was cleared to practice. She has looked sharp in practice, but it will be a game-time decision by head coach Mark Johnson as to whether she will see any time in net.

Since Dufour went down, junior goaltender Meghan Horras has taken sole responsibility for keeping the puck out of the net, and she has done so in 12 straight games. She has responded well, going 9-3 in that stretch and yielding only 13 goals with five shutouts. But that kind of pressure will catch up to anyone, and Horras has shown some signs of fatigue that come with starting and finishing 12 straight games.

“She’s come back really well, and it’s good to have her back,” MacLeod said of Dufour. “She’s able to push Horras, and Horras is able to push her. In the end, it’s just going to benefit us, having two goalies ready to go at any time.”

Other than Dufour, the Badgers have only one injured player going into the end of the season. Forward Vicki Davis went down last weekend with a broken arm, and will likely miss the rest of the season and the playoffs. Davis, a transfer from New Hampshire, was coming out of her shell as of late and had scored two goals and five assists before going down. But with only one player hurt going into the playoffs, the Badgers are a blessed team.

As healthy and confident as they are, the Badgers don’t want to overlook the Huskies, who have split their last two series and would love to do the same this weekend. The Badgers already have third place in the WCHA locked up, but don’t want to drop any games this weekend as they jockey for position in the NCAA tournament.

“Obviously we know we have to take care of business this weekend, and we have to win two games, so we have to put forth our best effort,” said MacLeod.

St. Cloud’s offense is led by Kristy Oonincx and Ashley Stewart, who each have amassed 21 points this season. Despite having seven players scoring in double digits, the Huskies are second-to-last in the conference in scoring, averaging just 1.78 goals per game. Compare that to the Badgers’ 4.62 goals per game, and you have a recipe for a lopsided series.

Wisconsin will be playing for the series sweep this weekend as it attempts to keep the momentum of its six-game winning streak alive going into the playoffs.

“I think we’re on a pretty good roll here, and that’s where we want to be,” MacLeod said of the team’s focus right now. “Obviously with playoffs coming up, it’s kind of a whole new season in itself in that anything can happen, and going into the WCHA’s you don’t know what’s going to transpire.”

All they do know is that with two wins in this series, the Badgers will be one win short of tying the team record for consecutive victories at nine. That will be added incentive as they head to the playoffs.