The Wisconsin women’s hockey team wrapped up regular season play this weekend with a pair of wins against St. Cloud State that gave the Badgers a team-record 26 wins for the season, besting last season’s total of 25 wins.
The team finished third in the WCHA with a 26-7-1 overall record and a 20-7-1 conference mark. The 20 conference wins are also a program high. The Badgers also finished the season on an eight-game winning streak, just one game short of the team record of nine set in 2003.
What all that means, in a nutshell, is the Badgers are playing their best hockey of the season; they are almost 100 percent healthy and they are doing it at the perfect time of year. The Badgers are peaking for the playoffs.
“We’re playing some of our best hockey,” goaltender Meghan Horras said. “If we have that mindset that we’re going to win, if we come out with that mindset, we can beat anybody.”
In the last eight games, the Badgers have scored less than five goals only twice, and in one of those games, the opposing goalie had to deflect 40 Badger shots. In fact, during that eight-game span, Wisconsin outscored the opposition 42-12.
Perhaps most telling about that statistic is the number of goals Wisconsin has given up. A fatigued Horras started and finished every one of those last eight games, as well as the last 14 games of the season, after Christine Dufour went down with a knee injury. This marathon feat is even more impressive in light of the fact that Horras has also been dealing with a nagging illness that was with her prior to Dufour’s injury.
During the winning streak, Horras gave up just 1.5 goals per game and she has surrendered only 1.28 goals per game since becoming the full-time starter.
Dufour has now been cleared to play, and it is up to head coach Mark Johnson to decide whether she will be ready for the playoffs. Johnson also has almost every other Badger at his disposal heading into postseason play. Besides forward Vicki Davis, who will miss the postseason with a broken arm, the rest of the team is healthy and present, which wasn’t always the case this season.
The Badgers have been undermanned at various points in the year because of injuries and national team obligations, among other things. Eight players on the team have missed at least one game for these reasons, but that has served as nothing more than a testament to the Badgers’ resilience.
“The best part about this team is our depth, and we’ve been able to come together when we lose players or when they’re gone for national team camps,” assistant captain Molly Engstrom said. “That just brings that much confidence to the table.”
With the Badgers sporting a full lineup heading into postseason play, opposing teams will be forced to reckon with the nation’s third-most prolific offense, behind Dartmouth and Minnesota. At 4.68 goals per game the Badgers are an imposing threat, but what should scare teams is Wisconsin’s ability to score with almost any line.
Wisconsin’s leading scorer, sophomore Sara Bauer, is ranked only seventh in the conference with 49 points, but she is joined by eight other Badgers in the conference’s top 26 in scoring. The team with the next highest number of players in the WCHA top 26 is Minnesota with five.
Everything seems to be coming together for the Badgers right now. As a team, the Badgers are ranked second in the WCHA in goals scored, goals allowed and power-play efficiency, as well as third in the penalty kill. More importantly, Johnson’s squad seems to be coming together as a team, and it can be seen in the ease with which they move the puck up and down the ice. Coach Johnson agrees that his team has come a long way since the beginning of the season.
“I think if you look at our ability to move the puck around, if you saw us in October, early November, and then saw us this past weekend up in St. Cloud, you probably saw two different teams,” Johnson said.
Wisconsin’s recent run won’t necessarily predicate tournament success, however. Last year the Badgers finished the regular season by winning 12 of their last 13 games, including the final six contests. They then proceeded to lose to Minnesota-Duluth in the conference semi-finals, finishing third in the tournament.
But this year everyone is a year older and a year wiser. The large group of talented freshmen is now an experienced group of sophomores, and the senior class is aching to get over that final hurdle.
“This is the most talented team we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Engstrom said. “We have the most talent, and the most important thing is that we’re putting it together.”
At this point, Johnson has told his team that the playoffs is a whole new season and the postseason is really where the fun begins. If the Badgers play the way they have over the last five weeks, there should be plenty of fun for the cardinal and white.
