Last season, head coach Mark Johnson, along with every player on the Wisconsin women's hockey team, described the team's success as "having a bull's-eye on our backs." That metaphor holds just as true this season, as the Badgers are the reigning national champions and ranked No. 1 in the nation for the second consecutive season. Throw in the fact that they were riding a 14-game winning streak going into this weekend's series, and that makes for one large bull's-eye.
The Badgers completed a two-game sweep against St. Cloud State this weekend, knowing that the Huskies would come out and play hard. Unfortunately for the Huskies, they were unable to stop the Badgers' relentless offense.
Wisconsin trounced St. Cloud in Friday's contest by a final score of 8-2. Junior forward Jinelle Zaugg recorded a hat-trick for the Badgers who held a 4-1 lead after the first period. St. Cloud's starting goalie, senior Lauri St. Jacques, was removed halfway into the second period and was replaced by junior Kendall Newell.
Zaugg had two goals in the first period and reportedly scored a third goal at the end of the period. Credit for the goal went to freshman forward Jasmine Giles, and Zaugg was gracious enough to let Giles record the first goal of her collegiate career. Zaugg completed her hat-trick with a goal in the second period.
Saturday's game was quite the contrast to Friday's, as the St. Cloud defense buckled down to prevent a repeat of the night before. In a game filled with blocked shots, missed chances and close calls, the Badgers won 2-1 in overtime.
The Badgers' first goal came on a second period power play as freshman forward Meghan Duggan's shot on goal was deflected high into the air before landing in the goal for her third goal of the season.
St. Cloud State, still playing hard, responded with a power play goal early in the third period. Zaugg and Sara Bauer broke out for a shorthanded opportunity but were met with a great save by Newell. The play immediately moved into the Badgers' zone where senior goalie Christine Dufour was beaten by a nifty top shelf shot by freshman forward Meaghan Pezon to tie the score at one.
The play moved into overtime, and Zaugg was the heroine again. One minute into OT, Bauer and Zaugg again advanced the puck into the Huskies' zone on a two on one. Bauer's shot left a juicy rebound for Zaugg to pick up and record the game winner. In the four games of the season, Zaugg has already scored six goals and tallied four assists.
Last season, Zaugg was known for her ability to clean up rebounds, but this season, she appears to be much more than just a rebound scorer, as her skating and play-making abilities look much improved from a year ago.
"I think a lot of it has to do with confidence," Zaugg said. "Being a freshman and even part of sophomore year you get a little nervous and a little intimidated by other teams and upperclassmen. This year I've been looking to be more of a leader on the ice … which is much easier because we have more underclassmen."
The power play and penalty kill were crucial this weekend, with a combined total of 25 penalties during the series. Of the 13 goals scored this weekend, five were power play goals and two were shorthanded, both of which were scored by the Badgers.
"After the two games last week, you can look at things and say 'Hey, we need to work on this and this needs to be developed,'" UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "So we spent some time this week working on our power play and working on our penalty kill … when looking at puck movement and creating chances, it was much better tonight [Friday] than it was last week."
"I thought we moved the puck really well on the power play … we try to play our game and keep them on their toes, and I think we did a good job of that," Zaugg added.
The Badgers, thanks to the exploits of Zaugg and the special teams, are now coasting on a 16-game winning streak. The bull's-eye, for the time being, seems to be getting bigger.
