After remaining unbeaten following a weekend series against the defending NCAA champion Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, the Badgers women’s hockey team will get the next weekend off.
Coach Mark Johnson said it is a welcomed intermission.
“It comes at a good time,” Johnson said. “You play 12 games and … mentally you get a break because you don’t have to prepare for either traveling and playing or playing at home next week. That’s a huge mental release for the players.”
The break in the schedule accommodates for the Women’s Four Nations’ Cup Tournament, which will take place in Lake Placid, NY, next week from Nov. 4-9. Four Badger standouts will participate in the event, including senior center Erika Lawler, senior goaltender Jessie Vetter, junior forward Meghan Duggan and sophomore forward Hilary Knight.
Coming off two pivotal conference matchups against rivals Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth, the weekend off gives Wisconsin a breather and a chance for reflection and evaluation.
According to Vetter, the team is pleased with its performance with almost a third of the schedule already in the past.
“We’re playing really good hockey,” Vetter said. “We’re doing a really good job of responding to whatever comes at us during the game and just playing some good hockey.”
Good hockey may be an understatement.
The No. 1-ranked Badgers have proven to be the most explosive offense in the country, topping the nation in goals per game, scoring margin and power play. Additionally, the team is second in combined special teams and penalty kills and is tied for first in scoring defense.
Sophomore forward Kelly Nash, who scored the decisive shootout goal in Saturday’s come-from-behind victory against the Bulldogs, said although the team is satisfied with their accomplishments thus far, there are still elements to work on.
“Obviously we have a very strong team from the past games we’ve already played this season,” Nash said. “[But] we seem to have trouble in the first period. So we just need to work on getting a head start in the games so we don’t have to worry about it during the intermissions.”
Although the team has produced from everywhere, some of the largest contributors have been the team’s youngest members. Most noticeably, freshman forward Brooke Ammerman, who scored two more goals over the weekend, has 12 goals through 12 games, placing her second in the country in total goals, behind only teammate Knight, who has 13. Ammerman is also tied with Knight and two others for the most game-winning goals and is second in points per game for rookies.
Johnson said Ammerman proved with her play against Duluth that she is capable of stepping up and playing at the highest level of competition.
“Last weekend, after our first game against Minnesota on Friday, the pace was a little quicker than she had been used to in her first eight games,” Johnson said. “But she adjusted nicely and had an impact on this weekend, so that tells me that she’s bringing her game up to where it needs to be in regards to competition. You know, we expect high things from her, and she expects that from herself so she’ll continue to work at it and hopefully be just as productive.”
After the weekend off, the team will face WCHA foe North Dakota before heading to Fort Myers, Fla., for a rematch against a New Hampshire team that beat the Badgers twice last season. But for now, Duggan said, the team can be happy with how they’ve performed and excited about the rest of the season.
“We’re really rolling right now,” Duggan said following Saturday’s dramatic 2-2 shootout victory. “That was a great, great come-from-behind win for us. It was great to get four points this weekend. I think we have a lot of potential on this team, especially these two weekends we just faced. And [we] really kind of set the tone in the WCHA — you know, Wisconsin’s a pretty good team this year.”
