To be perfectly honest, there isn't much left to say about the Wisconsin women's hockey team.
Everything written about the team so far this season has probably been repeated a million times. Which makes writing each article about the team more and more difficult.
Here is what you have already heard. The Badgers have an overall record of 19-2-1, are tied for the lead in their division, have held the title of No. 1 team in the nation for more than a month and they cannot stop winning.
After every single series the Badgers play, the headline seems to be the same. 'The Badgers sweep the series.' Different opponents, same result.
One doesn't have to look very hard at the statistics to see why. Thus far, the Badgers have been utterly dominant, having been unbeaten for nearly two months. UW last lost in late November, when New Hampshire won by the score of 2-1. The New Hampshire Wildcats are now the second-ranked team in the nation.
It doesn't stop there. Ten of the top 30 scorers in the WCHA are Badgers. Wisconsin scores nearly three goals for every goal scored against them, and have both the top point scorer, junior forward Sara Bauer, and the top goal-getter, sophomore forward Jinelle Zaugg, in the conference. Bauer has collected 34 points this season while Zaugg has 18 goals.
Of course, if you follow the team at all, you've read about Bauer, Zaugg and team captain Sharon Cole more times then you care to remember. The freshmen trio of Angie Keseley, Erica Lawler and Tia Hanson has also received its fair share of publicity. And it's certainly well deserved.
"That's a sign of a good team when you don't have to rely on goals from your so-called 'go-to' line [of Bauer, Cole and Zaugg]," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "If someone had told me that Sara Bauer and Sharon Cole weren't going to get a point in either game … and that we still would have swept them [North Dakota], I would have been like 'whoa.' But we had other people step up, and on Saturday night, our freshman line played very well and had a lot of energy."
Freshman players combined for seven points in the sweep over the North Dakota Fighting Sioux last weekend. They will try to play with that same energy this weekend when Wisconsin hosts Ohio State at the Kohl Center.
"We've been playing on smaller ice rinks for a while now, and the Kohl Center is huge," UW junior defender Bobbi-Jo Slusar said. "So communication will be huge for us. We're going to be fast and get right on them, so hopefully they won't have many opportunities to skate all over the ice."
The Buckeyes sit in the middle of the conference with a record of 10-8-4, despite having scored fewer goals than their opponents this season. They are led on offense by Jana Harrigan, who has the second-highest point total in the conference with 31. Harrigan and junior defender Amber Bowman, who has 20 points, are the only two true scoring threats for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes are anchored in goal by junior netminder Erika Vanderveer, who sits in the middle of the Big Ten pack in both save percentage and goals against.
No matter how well the Buckeyes play, they will likely need a lot of luck to beat the Badgers, who are 19-3-5 all-time against Ohio State. Wisconsin has not lost to OSU since October of 2004.
