The Wisconsin women’s hockey team, which has stumbled to a 2-2 record in its quest to repeat last year’s national championship, hosts Ohio State this weekend for a two-game series at the Kohl Center.
After splitting two weeks ago in Bemidji, Minn., the Badgers have their work cut out for them if they wish to maintain an early presence in both WCHA and national standings.
Interestingly enough, head coach Tracey DeKeyser’s Badgers have held steady puck control, exhibited appropriate effort and possess passable numbers in every stat, save for goals scored.
Passing lanes have been hard to come by, and shots have been noticeably off the mark as early season rust has been amply visible in Wisconsin’s first two weekend splits. Despite returning a myriad of gifted goal-scorers, the team lost — be it through graduation or the Olympics — a handful of the nation’s top offensive players and are still struggling to replace that departed production.
Wisconsin has seen a dozen different players find the score sheet, but not a single Badger has more than two points through the season’s first four games. Senior Mallory Deluce, who stands as the lone Badger with both a goal and an assist, believes goals will come with time and chemistry.
“We’ve had lots of shots and lots of chances, but I think its just because it’s the beginning of the year — we’re just kind of getting used to each other,” Deluce said of the Badgers’ offensive struggles. “Once it starts, it will just keep going, hopefully.”
The Buckeyes come to Madison winless in their last 21 games against the Badgers. Wisconsin will look to extend that streak through fundamental hockey with an extra focus on playing one game at a time, Deluce said after Thursday’s practice.
“I hope we come out strong, [with a] good forecheck and just play like we can,” Deluce said of her goals for the team against Ohio State. “Play simple, get lots of shots and just worry about the first game first. ”
As in their season-opening series with North Dakota, Wisconsin dropped Friday’s game last weekend in Bemidji, and also like in the series with North Dakota, the Badgers responded with an impressive win on Saturday night.
DeKeyser expects the Buckeyes to be very much the same hardworking team she has faced in years past. Ohio State enters the series with 1-2-1 record, after posting a 6-20-2 mark in 2008-09.
“OSU is always a hard-working team, they are a tough team that goes hard from one end to the other,” DeKeyser said. “They like to crash the net. They’re just a hard-working group.”
OSU struggled with injuries last year and consequently failed to live up to sizeable expectations. However, they enter 2009-10 with improved health and return a formidable defensive unit, bolstered by a healthy sophomore Kelly Wild, as well as one of the WCHA’s most feared offensive threats in Natalie Spooner.
“Natalie Spooner is a pretty good center. She’s tall, she’s strong, she’s a national team member for Canada,” DeKeyser said. “She’s a scoring threat, so we’ll be wary of her and be conscious of her when she’s on the ice.”
Considering Wisconsin’s early season struggles, it comes as no surprise that DeKeyser and her staff have had the Badgers focus primarily on improving themselves as opposed to applying heavy focus on their opponent.
“We try to figure out what to do with their special teams, try and have a plan in action for penalty kill, (and) focus on face-offs,” DeKeyser said. “[We’ve focused] not so much with regards to what they do, but what we do ourselves.”
