[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]The date was Feb. 4, 2006, and the Wisconsin women's hockey team was riding a 13-game winning streak.

That day, the Badgers dominated St. Cloud State, out shooting the Huskies 36-12. Unfortunately for UW, not one of the 36 shots found the back of the net, and the Badgers lost 1-0.

This weekend, the No. 1 ranked Badgers (2-0-0 overall, 0-0-0 WCHA) will look to avoid a similar defeat when they put their 14 game winning streak on the line against the Huskies (1-0-1 overall, 0-0-0 WCHA) in UW's first conference game of the season.

Wisconsin dominated conference play last season, going 24-3-1 in the WCHA, but this weekend it will face off against a feisty St. Cloud State squad that was one of only four teams to draw blood from the Badgers last season.

"I think they're going to come out hard because they have a lot of returning players and they beat us last year, so I think they're going to come into this building with a lot of confidence and a lot of speed," senior defender Meaghan Mikkelson said.

St. Cloud State is coming off their most successful season in school history after posting an 18-18-1 overall record and a 13-14-1 record in the WCHA. With most of their production returning this season, it should be a factor in the highly talented WCHA.

The Huskies, who were picked to finish fourth in the WCHA pre-season coaches poll, will be entering the Kohl Center Friday for the first time since November of 2005. The Huskies have a new coaching staff this season as former SCS assistant coach Jeff Giesen is now at the helm.

According to UW head Coach Mark Johnson, the change should be a factor.

"It should be a really good series," Johnson said. "They are coming off their best year since they started the program, so I'm sure they are quite confident. They got a new coaching staff, so I'm sure the girls are real excited to showcase their talents for their new coach so it should make for a real competitive weekend."

This series features three of the best goaltenders in the WCHA with UW's Jessie Vetter and Christine Dufour and SCS's Lauri St. Jacques, who recently earned WCHA Defensive Player of the Week accolades for her efforts against Robert Morris University. The senior collected 20 saves to help earn a 4-0 victory and the fifth shutout of her career.

The Badgers received two quality performances between the pipes last weekend and Johnson says he will continue to use both goaltenders equally, as long as both maintain their high level of play.

Sophomore Vetter recorded 13 saves en route to her first victory of the season and she has not allowed a goal in 260:42, a streak dating back to the first period of UW's NCAA quarterfinal game against Mercyhurst.

"She has just been awesome lately, and I don't want to jinx her, but we will see how long she keeps this streak going," Mikkelson said.

Dufour, whose stellar play in net was overshadowed by her counterpart last season, looked sharp against Quinnipiac Saturday. With Dufour and Vetter, the Badgers have a recipe for success that's likely to last the whole season.

"It's good to have options at goaltender; you never know what's going to happen in this business so you got to keep them game ready and game sharp," Johnson said. "I thought the competition they (Dufour and Vetter) got against Quinnipiac last week was a great way to open the season. They challenged us and competed hard both games and were a better team because of what happened last weekend."

In the opening series, the one problem for the Badgers was consistency. Johnson pointed out that his team showed signs of last year's greatness, but against better opponents the Badgers can ill afford to have a lapse in concentration.

"I don't think we were very consistent through six periods last weekend," assistant captain Sara Bauer said. "That's something coach [Johnson] has really stressed, and we need to work on and do it every weekend because if we don't, teams will take advantage of it."

Johnson recognizes both teams will be fired up for their first conference action of the season and that goaltending will be the key to victory.

"Any time you play conference games early on you better be ready to go because as we've seen in years past the parity amongst teams in the WCHA is really getting close," Johnson said. "We need to play up to our expectations if we want to win, and it will be evident this weekend and whoever gets better goaltending will probably win the games."