It's been an impressive run for the Wisconsin women's hockey team, who went on a 19-game winning streak dating back to last season. That winning streak has now become a 20-game unbeaten streak after playing to a 3-3 tie against archrival Minnesota.
An interesting pattern has developed for the Badgers, who hold a record of seven wins, zero losses and one tie. That pattern has been noticeable so far this season with the Badgers winning the first game of a series but then facing a far more determined and resilient opponent in the second game.
This first became apparent during the Badgers' second series of the season versus St. Cloud State. Wisconsin won the first game easily, out-scoring St. Cloud 8-2. In the second game, St. Cloud came out playing far better than they had the night before and the Badgers won the hard-fought game by a score of 2-1.
The following weekend, the Badgers traveled to Ohio State to take on the Buckeyes, whose ice rink is substantially smaller than a regulation sized arena.
The Badgers won the first game 3-2 and went on to win by the same score in the second game of the series. Wisconsin had to post a comeback victory in the second game, with the winning goal scored by freshman forward Kyla Sanders with less than six minutes left in the third period. That game was marked by the number of chances squandered by the Badgers.
"[The Ohio State Ice Rink] is a very small rink, and things happen very quickly," head coach Mark Johnson said. "We should have probably had five or six more goals … than we did, but three was enough to win."
The pattern continued this weekend when the Badgers hosted the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who had a score to settle with Wisconsin after losing to the Badgers in the national championship game last season. However, the Gophers came out flat-footed in the opening game, losing by the score of 3-1.
Just as St. Cloud State and Ohio State did, the Gophers came out much stronger in game two. Minnesota managed to score two goals in last 70 seconds of the game en route to the 3-3 tie.
"Today [the Gophers] came out a little bit more intense … and a little stronger," sophomore forward Erika Lawler said.
The Badgers are taking the tie in stride, however, as freshman forward Meghan Duggan put it, "Overall I think our team played great … a win and a tie is better than a loss."
"It's a good learning experience, so we should take it for what it's worth," Lawler added.
For whatever reason, the Badgers seem to bring out the best in an opposing team during the second game of every series. Perhaps it's the fact that opponents often get drilled in the first game of the series and come out pumped for the second game, hoping to prevent a repeat of the night before.
Or perhaps this pattern can be attributed to opponents realizing that they have to play their hearts out and bring everything they can to defeat the No. 1 ranked Badgers. A third possibility is that opposing teams go into the first game intimidated by the Badgers' ranking and national championship title.
Whatever it is, every series so far this season has had some degree of this pattern. In each series, particularly the series versus St. Cloud State, the caliber of play from Wisconsin's opponents improved greatly in game two. It was almost as if two different teams took the ice against the Badgers. This pattern has been an interesting storyline so far, and it will be interesting to see how long it will hold up.
