The Wisconsin women’s hockey team (7-1) has had a very tough schedule to start conference play this season.
This weekend’s series against Boston University will be the Badgers’ fourth straight week against an opponent ranked in the top six nationally. They’ve already faced North Dakota, Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth, and now they’re finally at the end of the difficult stretch with Boston University.
“I think it’s been great that we’ve been playing all these hard teams,” senior captain Hilary Knight said. “It tests us and builds our character, and it makes us that much more hungry for the puck and different opportunities on the ice. Instilling those habits now will put us in a good position later.”
The Badgers’ Friday and Saturday afternoon games against BU happen to be during Halloween weekend in Madison, but head coach, Mark Johnson knows that Halloween is just another weekend. He expects upperclassmen like Knight to set a good example for the freshmen on how to handle it.
“It’s craziness, and Halloween here is kind of its own monster,” Knight said. “But we’ve got a responsible group and as long as we come up big tomorrow and continue to show up on Saturday, I don’t think Halloween will be a distraction.”
A huge bright spot for UW this season has been the play of goalie Alex Rigsby. Rigsby has won defensive player of the week honors in the WCHA the past two weeks after her impressive performances against Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth. She holds a very remarkable .930 save percentage and is second in the nation with 198 saves this season.
While Rigsby has been extremely impressive and Wisconsin has started the season 7-1, the team knows they still have areas to improve on.
One phase of the Badgers’ game that Johnson and the players have put particular emphasis on is starting strong and staying consistent throughout the game. They’ve had multiple games in conference play where they have put themselves in a hole by falling behind. Johnson talked about the importance of playing BU tough throughout the entire game.
“[The players] consistency from the start of the game till the end of the game and not having any hiccups or blinks as you go through that 60 minutes is the ultimate goal of any coaching staff,” Johnson said. “When you’re playing good competition, you’re going to contend in your end. You’re going to have to bend things a little bit and just hope you don’t break and give up goals. For the most part, we’ve done pretty good up to this point, but we need to continue to work at those things.”
As with most teams, Wisconsin is prepared to get BU’s best shot this weekend. The schools’ only ever meeting was in last year’s NCAA championship game when the Badgers knocked off the Terriers 4-1. Boston, like many of the Badgers’ other opponents, will surely want revenge for how its season ended.
“The biggest thing with the national championship from last year was that we beat BU in their last game,” Knight said. “Fortunately for us we went on and won the national championship, but for them to come here, they’re going to have that much more fire in their belly.”
Knowing how determined BU will be for payback, Knight reiterated how they’ll need to play well from the beginning of the game.
“I think we’re using their momentum as a key for us to come out in the first period, first minute and really focus in and play hockey, and hopefully we can do that tomorrow.”
