The Wisconsin women's hockey team will play at the Kohl Center against conference rival St. Cloud this weekend. The Badgers, coming off a sweep of North Dakota, are now ranked second in the WCHA. St. Cloud, which was idle last week, is ranked sixth.
Wisconsin, holding a record of 6-1, has won all six games after losing their first game of the season to Minnesota-Duluth. St. Cloud holds a record of 2-4 this season and was 9-22-4 last season. The Badgers currently hold an all-time record of 22-3 against St. Cloud.
Wisconsin hopes to continue its offensive streak this weekend, after scoring eight goals in last Saturday's game against North Dakota, with 11 goals in the series. The Badgers are averaging nearly 4.5 goals per game this season.
The bulk of the scoring thus far has come from several key veterans as well as freshmen who have stepped up nicely this season. Veteran forwards Sara Bauer and Sharon Cole (team captain) have been on the same page all season, producing 23 combined points.
Cole has recorded six goals and three assists for a total of nine points, while Bauer has collected six goals and eight assists. Cole assisted on both of Bauer's goals during last Saturday's blowout and the two have worked very well together all season.
Other veteran playmakers include sophomore forward Jinelle Zaugg and junior defender Bobbi-Jo Slusar. Zaugg had a three-point game Saturday with two goals and an assist, giving her four goals and five assists for nine points.
Slusar has become a stalwart on defense and a real playmaker. She finished with four assists on Saturday giving her a total of 10 assists with two goals.
The freshmen contributors include speedster Erika Lawler and Angie Keseley, who both see a lot of ice time. Like Bauer and Cole, the two are playing very well together.
St. Cloud State is a team that doesn't allow many goals but doesn't score many either. The Huskies are averaging fewer than three goals allowed per game but have an even lower average for goals scored per game.
Their leading goal scorer, Laura Fast, has three goals on the season with one assist. The points leader of the team is Kristy Oonincx, who has two goals and seven assists for nine points.
Having an offensive attack will be crucial for St. Cloud if they are to defeat the Badgers. When playing North Dakota and Vermont this season, the Badgers' relentless fore-checking and offense made it difficult for the opposing team to even get the puck out of their own zone, not to mention pose a real offensive threat.
The Badgers will aim to wear down St. Cloud's defense by shutting down the stagnant Huskies' offense, which will allow Wisconsin to control the puck in the Huskies' zone — much like they did against Vermont and North Dakota.
The Badgers and the Huskies will most likely be using both goaltenders during the series. Wisconsin's Christine Dufour and Meghan Horras have split every series so far this season, and the Huskies have split time between Kendall Newell and Lauri St. Jacques. Jacques has seen more time in goal but has a worse save percentage and goals-against average than Newell.
"We just need to continue what we've done over the past couple weeks," head coach Mark Johnson said. "We need to use our speed and our puck-handling abilities to create scoring opportunities. We also need to work on our power play and penalty killing. So hopefully we'll play like we did [Saturday]."
The Badgers will play the Huskies at 7:05 p.m. Friday at the Kohl Center and again Saturday afternoon at 12:05 p.m. The Badgers will then play on Wednesday against Minnesota State to make up for the game cancelled Oct. 22.
