[media-credit name=’GREGORY DIXON/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]After a grueling regular season of 16 series, the University of Wisconsin women's hockey team has just one more regular season series left before the postseason begins. The Bemidji State Beavers are the only team standing in the way of the No. 2 Badgers finishing the season with a 29-1-4 record.

Nevertheless, the task at hand is defeating the Beavers, and the Badgers have plenty of things going for them.

The Badgers haven't lost yet in 2007, compiling 11 wins and one tie while outscoring opponents 50-8. The Badgers also have a healthy 17-game winning streak dating back to November, when they suffered their only loss of the season at the hands of the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.

The Badgers will also be looking to improve on last weekend's series against Ohio State. While Wisconsin did manage to pick up the sweep, it wasn't the most dominating weekend performance for Mark Johnson's squad.

"There were some distractions with this past weekend," team captain Bobbi-Jo Slusar said. "I think we've had a good week of practice so far, and I think we know that this is our last series of the WCHA regular season, and we have to end it with a boom. We just have to work on some things that we obviously didn't do well last week."

After getting all those distractions out of the way, the Badgers have nothing to distract them this weekend. Not even having the second game played in Verona's Eagle's Nest instead of the Kohl Center.

"I think it will (be) alright," goaltender Jessie Vetter said of playing in the Madison suburb. "Just because the ice sheet is the same size, and it might actually be a really good atmosphere because it's a smaller rink, and we'll probably pack it. So it'll actually be pretty fun to play over at the Eagle's Nest."

Wisconsin will also play the first playoff round against North Dakota in Verona.

No matter what sheet of ice they play on, however, the Badgers certainly appear to have the upper hand. The Badgers are riding a 17-game unbeaten streak, while the Beavers have just one win in the last 8 games. The one win did come against No. 8 Minnesota last weekend, though, as Bemidji State earned a split with the Gophers.

History isn't on the Beavers' side, either.

The Badgers have punished the Beavers in the past, racking up 30 wins with just one loss and one tie, including 17 straight wins. Wisconsin swept Bemidji State earlier this season with scores of 6-2 and 4-2, giving the Badgers a 26-game unbeaten streak at the time.

Bemidji State, which is sixth in the WCHA, also has problems on both offense and defense. The Beavers have been out-shot by nearly 30 goals this season, and their leading scorer, senior forward Kelly Hart, is tied for 27th in the conference in points scored. Hart has a mere 21 points.

The Badgers, however, have no such problems, as they own four of the top five point scorers. Leading scorer Sara Bauer has already matched her career record for points in a season (58) and just notched the 200th point in her career.

The Badgers have been shutting it down all season as well. Wisconsin has allowed just 34 goals all season, which is just over a goal per game. Bemidji State, on the other hand, is allowing nearly three goals per game.

Furthermore, Wisconsin has the advantage on special teams over any other team in the WCHA. The Badgers lead in both penalty kills and the power play, whereas the Beavers have a downright miserable power play, converting just 12 percent. Bemidji State's penalty kill is respectable, however, due to the fact the team spends so much time in the penalty box. The Beavers are the second most penalized team in the WCHA.

The advantage of goaltending also falls in Wisconsin's favor, as the duo of Jessie Vetter and Christine Dufour has been stonewalling opponents for the entire season. They started off the New Year by going on a streak of eight games in which they allowed just two goals.

Bemidji State's goaltender Emily Brookshaw falls in the lower tier of goalies in the conference, posting mediocre numbers in both save percentage and goals against average. Still, though, Brookshaw is an absolute workhorse. She's recorded more time on the ice than any other goalie and has made the second-most saves.

Despite all of Wisconsin's advantages, Bemidji State shouldn't be taken lightly. But in the minds of the players, it doesn't matter what Bemidji State does — the only thing that matters is what they can do.

"We didn't play like we wanted to [last weekend]," Slusar said. "And that's what we're going to strive for this weekend, 60 minutes. We have to play that 60 minutes."