After a strenuous and well-played first half of the season, the Wisconsin women's hockey team (15-2-1, 12-1-1) will enjoy a stretch of more than three weeks rest. Last weekend's series against the University of Minnesota-Duluth was the Badgers' last series of 2005. Wisconsin will next play against Wayne State on Jan. 6.
The Badgers go into the winter break with much to be happy about. The team played a great series against the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, who were ranked No. 1 in the country prior to the series against the Badgers. Wisconsin and Duluth now share the top spot in the conference with 25 points.
Wisconsin now holds the best record in the WCHA — due in large part to how dominant its offense has been for most of the season. The Badgers have scored the most goals in the WCHA with 77 and also have the most potent powerplay.
Individually, junior forward Sara Bauer leads the conference in scoring with 34 points, and also recorded her fourth career hat trick earlier this season against Bemidji State.
The defense and goaltending have also been spectacular. Junior defender Bobbi-Jo Slusar leads the conference in defensive scoring with 23 points, while goaltenders Meghan Horras and Christine Dufour have been lights out this season. They have the top two records in the conference and are among the best in save percentage and goals against average.
Now the Badgers get an opportunity to get some rest, relax and concentrate on things other than hockey.
"This is a chance for the players to rest up a little bit," head coach Mark Johnson said. "They get to concentrate on their schoolwork and finals before they go home to enjoy the holidays with their families and not have to worry about hockey."
However, Johnson recognized there would be some difficulty in getting back into the swing of things when the second half of the season starts.
"It will be transition," Johnson said. "But it always is a transition when the second half [of the season] starts. It will be a little difficult to get back into rhythm."
After their three-week break, the Badgers will travel to Detroit, Mich., to take on the Wayne State Warriors in a non-conference series. The Warriors hold a record of 6-9-3 and are averaging just over two goals per game.
Wayne State is led on offense by the freshman trio of Melissa Boal, Sam Poyton and Lindsay DiPietro. The three have combined for 62 points and have scored 30 of the team's 38 goals.
However, the Warriors have allowed 47 goals on the season, resulting in many close games. Fourteen of their 18 games played have been decided by two goals or less. The Warriors are anchored on defense by goaltender Valery Turcotte, who has a mediocre save percentage of .890.
The Badgers will then travel to Grand Forks, N.D., to take on the Fighting Sioux. The Sioux sit at the very bottom of the conference with a record of 3-13-2. They average less than two goals per game and give up more than 3.5 scores per game.
The Badgers swept the Fighting Sioux already this season when the two teams played in October. The Badgers destroyed the Sioux 8-0 on Oct. 28 while limiting the Sioux to just eight shots on goal. Wisconsin ended up out-shooting North Dakota 53-8.
The series against North Dakota will be the last away series the Badgers have in their current road trip that started in early November.
