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After an intense home series against No. 2 Minnesota, the top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team is hosting yet another top ranked team, as No. 7 Minnesota-Duluth heads to Madison this weekend. Duluth beat Wisconsin in the National Championship last season, denying the Badgers’ aspirations for a third straight national championship.

Minnesota-Duluth dropped a pair of games to the Gophers earlier this year. The Bulldogs are coming off a series sweep over Minnesota State Mankato. Duluth pocketed a pair of 5-1 victories over the Mavericks in Duluth last weekend. The wins over Mankato gave the Bulldogs their first WCHA wins of the season and a good deal of momentum heading into Madison for a visit with the top-ranked Badgers.

The Bulldogs’ lineup against Mankato was rejuvenated with the emergence of freshman Elim Holmlov. Holmlov, a Sweden native who has only played in three of Duluth’s 11 games, notched four goals in the sweep.

Pernilla Winberg, also a freshman Swede, was voted the WCHA preseason rookie of the year. Winberg has lived up to the reputation thus far, as she leads the Bulldogs with 10 points. With a healthy lineup and a WCHA sweep under their belts, the Badgers can expect a much-improved Duluth team this weekend.

Forward Haley Irwin, a preseason first team all-WCHA member, and goalie Kim Martin, who along with Badgers Erica Lawler and Meghan Duggan received votes for WCHA preseason player of the year, round out a group with plenty of big game experience for the Bulldogs. Despite the experience, the Bulldogs are a relatively young team; they have 11 underclassmen and only five seniors.

Duluth’s roster features 14 international players coming in from all over the globe to play for coach Shannon Miller. The roster includes eight Canadians from Quebec to New Brunswick. In addition, a strong European influence has been introduced to the Bulldogs’ style of play thanks largely to the Bulldogs’ four Swedish and two Finnish players.

The Minnesota series was the first in which the Badgers found themselves facing an offense with as much explosiveness as their own. Wisconsin stepped up defensively, holding the Gophers to only two goals on 62 shots. Senior goalie Jessie Vetter earned the WCHA defensive player of the week for her performance; Holmlov of Duluth won the WCHA offensive player of the week.

The Bulldogs will bring a more balanced and less offensive attack to the Kohl Center than the Gophers provided last week. Sophomore Kelly Nash likes the Badgers’ chances in the series against the Bulldogs.

“It definitely is going to be an intense series; I think that our team is much more prepared than we were last season. We have been playing pretty well,” Nash said.

Despite the Bulldogs’ talented roster and past success, it is Wisconsin that comes into the series as the favorites. The Badgers have cruised to 9-0-1 start and are coming off a big weekend against arch-rival Minnesota. The Badgers’ comeback victory on Saturday over a very talented Minnesota provides plenty of momentum for round two of the Badger’s difficult two-week home stretch.

Assistant coach Tracey Cornell mentioned that the Wisconsin coaching staff has been keeping an eye on Duluth and many of the players are familiar with the Duluth players.

“[Minnesota-Duluth] always is much-anticipated competition. We track them through video, and the players are familiar with Duluth’s players. It’s just another great WCHA series,” Cornell said.