The Wisconsin women's hockey team will face its toughest challenge since their season-opening series when they face the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs Friday night at 7:05 in Duluth. The Bulldogs, who handed UW its first loss of the season in this year's opening game, took over the nation's No. 1 ranking after St. Lawrence fell to Clarkson University last weekend.
No. 4 Wisconsin opened the season with a loss against the Bulldogs before responding the next game, toppling Duluth 4-3 en route to an impressive 12-game winning streak before losing to New Hampshire over Thanksgiving.
This series is surely an important and challenging series for both teams, as it will prove which team belongs in the No. 1 spot in the WCHA. Minnesota-Duluth leads the conference with 24 points, with the Badgers trailing by just two.
The Badgers won in convincing style this past weekend, with 14 goals in a sweep of Bemidji State. Wisconsin won 4-1 on Sunday after dismantling Bemidji State 10-3 on Saturday. With the impressive number of goals scored, the Badgers are averaging over 4.5 goals per game.
The Bulldogs improved their record to 14-2, which is identical to the Badgers' record, after a home sweep of Minnesota State. The Bulldogs are 12-2 in conference play.
This series marks the halfway point of the season for the Badgers and their third consecutive road series. Wisconsin will have two more road trips in January before returning home to play. The Badgers face a real challenge in not just playing the nation's top team, but also playing in a hostile environment at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention center.
"It [the long road trip] is broken up by the holidays, so that's OK," head coach Mark Johnson said. "If you want to do anything in this league, you have to win on the road. I just look at it as another game day, but sometimes you have to get on a bus or get on a plane."
Team captain Sharon Cole, who had two goals and an assist in the series against Bemidji, agreed that playing away from home shouldn't be a huge factor.
"You have home games and you have away games all season," Cole said, "so it's not a huge deal."
Another source of worry is the fact that the Badgers are 10-16-4 against the Bulldogs all time. However, Johnson does not see that as a problem.
"One of our mottos is to play well no matter who we're playing," Johnson said. "But after 60 minutes of play, we need to have one more goal than they do. That's all it comes down to."
The Badgers certainly seem to be looking to the positives rather than dwelling on the negatives. And after the offensive display put on at Bemidji, examples of positive play are abundant. Cole's linemate Sara Bauer, who is the leading point producer in the WCHA, had a hat trick with an assist in the 10-3 victory last weekend.
Senior forward Grace Hutchins, who had zero goals going into the series against Bemidji, also recorded a hat trick in the victory. It was her first career hat trick.
"I like the offensive chances we're creating," Johnson said. "If we can get four, five or six goals per game, I like our chances after that."
With ten players recording a point in the victory, Wisconsin was able to show its incredible depth of talented players and prove that they were not solely dependant on the powerhouse combination of Cole, Bauer and junior forward Jinelle Zaugg. The three are the top goal scorers on the team.
"I think our key is our depth in lines and hitting every team we play with three or four solid lines," Cole said, "so that's one of our biggest strengths."
