[media-credit name=’AJ MACLEAN/herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The Wisconsin women's hockey team will look to build on last Sunday's overtime victory as they take on the University of Vermont Catamounts this weekend in a two-game set at the Kohl Center.

The No. 2 Badgers, coming off a hard-fought split against the No. 3 University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs last weekend, are hoping to learn from the tough early-season match and climb back to the top spot in the nation.

The Catamounts, in their first season of play in the talented Hockey East conference, are 0-2-1 this season after being swept by Clarkson and tying with Sacred Heart in their season-opener. Vermont has not had a winning season since the 2001 campaign and is trying to rebound from a 5-26-3 effort last season, having finished 10th in the ECAC conference.

Vermont is led by senior forward and captain Abbey Kaknes, who currently leads the team with three points and earned Hockey East Conference Player of the Week honors after her stellar performances at the start of the season. On defense, Vermont looks to sophomore Kate Lesniak to improve on her freshman season, where she led all Catamount defenders in scoring, and led a defense that gave up 2.67 goals per game last season.

The Badgers enter the weekend set with a dynamic offensive attack that outscored opponents 167-55 last season while averaging 4.5 goals per contest. Assistant captain Sara Bauer, who led the team in goals and assists last season, is off to a hot start after netting the game-winner in Sunday's overtime thriller.

Bauer, along with fellow assistant captain Nikki Burish and team captain Sharon Cole, lead a potent offensive attack that should be able to score effectively against a shaky Catamount defense.

After losing former seniors Cara Macleod and Molly Engstrom after last season, the Badgers added two former forwards to the defense. While head coach Mark Johnson expects the defense to play well, the new-look Badger defense showed some signs of rust in the opening weekend.

"The one thing we need to continue to work on is play in our own end," head coach Mark Johnson said. "We've got some new [defenders] back there and we just need to be stronger in those areas this weekend."

Bobbi Jo Slusar is the remaining veteran on defense. She led the team last season with a plus-32 rating and is currently tied for the team-lead in points. Although the Catamounts have struggled to put the puck in the net this season, Slusar's mentality remains the same.

"I don't think Vermont is going to be as strong as Duluth but we can't afford to take them any lighter," Slusar said. "Obviously we have to work on some things defensively. We struggled a little bit in our defensive zone and breaking out. We are going to have to be very sound in our defensive end against Vermont."

Veteran netminders Meghan Horras and Christine Dufour, who combined for a slim 1.54 goals-against average last season, will resume the goaltending duties against Vermont.

"I anticipate both Meghan [Horras] and Christine [Dufour] getting some more work in this weekend," Johnson said. I want to get both of them into game shape and gain some confidence — in order to do that they both need to play."

Redshirt freshman goaltender Jessie Vetter is still battling an illness and will be unavailable for action this weekend.

Vermont junior goalie Shivaun Siegl has started eight games in her career with a 2.11 GAA. This season, Siegl has started all three of Vermont's games and has given up seven goals with a .900 save percentage.

The Badgers enter the weekend with advantages in all facets of the game. With a two-headed monster in net and a powerful offensive attack, all signs point to a big weekend for the Badgers.

That being said, players and coaches alike know that they can ill afford to overlook this Vermont hockey team.

"Hopefully we play at the pace and tempo we were able to play against Duluth. It's our job as coaches to keep the kids focused and keep up our pace of play up," Johnson said. "It's irrelevant who you are playing, you have to play up to your team's capabilities."