It has been rough seas for the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey so far this year. The waves have ebbed and flowed on and off all year, but that doesn’t matter anymore; the second season has arrived.

After splitting a series with No. 2 Minnesota last weekend, Wisconsin locked up fourth place in the WCHA and will play host to Ohio State in a best-of-three series with the winner earning a trip to Minnesota for the WCHA Final Face-Off.

Wisconsin played a competitive series last weekend throughout, as sophomore Carolyn Prevost sent home the game-winner in overtime Friday, for a 4-3 UW victory. The Badgers got the short end of the stick in game two though, allowing two goals within the game’s last five minutes to lose 3-2.

Despite the unfortunate loss, Wisconsin came away from the series feeling positive.

“The team’s feeling pretty confident, to tell you the truth — not overly confident, but confident knowing that we can beat any team in the country if we really set our minds to the task at hand,” interim head coach Tracey DeKeyser said. “We played two very solid games up in Minnesota — it just takes one or two mental breakdowns or untimely penalties to put you at the disadvantage, and a team like Minnesota is going to capitalize.”

The Badgers now turn to a Buckeyes team that has the potential to pack just as much punch as the Gophers. The fifth place Buckeyes finished the regular season leading the WCHA in goals scored with 111, but there is a catch: the Buckeyes’ defense is a major weakness, as they also sit atop the conference in goals allowed with 107.

The two teams have met in four contests already this year, splitting the series 2-2. Each game featured a high scoring, competitive affair, as the largest margin of victory was two goals, while three of the four games were otherwise decided by one goal. Combined, UW scored 15 goals to OSU’s 14.

Though OSU’s offense is undeniably dangerous, senior captain Jasmine Giles attributes the close games to her team not playing up to par.

“We know their goaltending isn’t the best part of their game, and that the best part of their game is goal scoring, so that brings out a very high scoring game,” she said. “Yeah, [the games] have been close, but we haven’t had our best games against them.”

“I think our focus this weekend is just going to be on just winning the battles and doing the little things right because against weaker teams we don’t necessarily do that.”

The Buckeyes’ offense is lead by Patty Kazmaier nominees Hokey Langan and Natalie Spooner, two underclassmen who have consistently been a hassle for defenses all year. Langan, as freshman, is second in the WCHA in scoring (48) and goals (22). Spooner, a sophomore, has tallied another 18 goals — eight of which were on the power play, putting her at fourth in the nation.

While the two have been able to knock in three goals apiece this season against Wisconsin, the Badgers have more than one reason to feel confident they can keep them in check for the weekend.

Giles noted that the weaknesses of the two forwards lie in their defense and transition game. If the Badgers can create transitions off their play, says Giles, they may be too slow to revert back to their defensive zones.

As far as their offensive prowess goes, sophomore forward Brooke Ammerman noticed that in past games against Wisconsin, Langan and Spooner’s goals have primarily come off of opportunistic chances that can be cleaned up.

“I think a lot of their goals against us have been rebounds,” she said. “We were talking about this before — their first shot hits the goalie, but we never seem to pick up the rebound, and it’s usually laying near Langan or Spooner.”

“I think we can neutralize them by picking up sticks in front of the net so they won’t be as successful this weekend.”

The Badgers’ season thus far could be described as consistently inconsistent. They have swept a series just twice, have only been swept by an opponent once and have plenty of splits to fill in the rest. However, to Giles and the rest of the Badgers, none of it matters as the post-season offers a blank slate.

As a result, the team is feeling ready to open the floodgates.

“What we said at the beginning of the week was everyone’s 0-0 right now, nobody’s got any wins or loses,” she said. “Everything starts over. There’s no holding back, you just throw everything at them. It’s a whole different kind of play.”