This weekend, the Badger women’s hockey team will take to the road for only the second time this season in a Friday and Saturday matchup with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Although Ohio State (5-2-1) is not ranked and Wisconsin (9-1) still holds the top ranking in both polls nationally, the Badgers are behind Ohio State in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings. They’re only trailing the Buckeyes by two points, but this will be another tough conference opponent for Wisconsin.

UW is coming off a grueling October schedule where they faced four teams in a row that were ranked at least sixth nationally. Head coach Mark Johnson and his players are pleased with their 7-1 record in October, with their only loss coming at the hands of Minnesota.

Freshman Katy Josephs believes the challenges the team faced have helped the Badgers as a team.

“It made us really work together as a team in order to beat those tough opponents,” Josephs said. “We are definitely close because of the hard situations we had to go through.”

The Ohio State series will kick off the beginning of a very long road stretch for the Badgers. Six of the next seven series for UW will be on the road.

Johnson doesn’t believe all the traveling will affect his team much and that they may actually benefit from it. What he knows will affect his team and must make adjustments for is the smaller rink size at Ohio State and some of the other upcoming opponents.

“You’ve got to play them whether on the road or at home. Actually, sometimes going on the road is a good thing because you have less distractions,” Johnson said. “Other than that you have to get on a plane or get on a bus not much else. The next three of the four series we play will be on smaller ice sheets, and that will be the big difference. You try to adjust strategy based on where you are going to play, so we have tried to do a couple of things this week to prepare.”

The Badgers’ rink at the Kohl Center is 200 feet long and 97 feet wide, while Ohio State’s is the same length but only 85 feet wide. The Buckeyes’ rink is NHL regulation size, while the Kohl Center’s rink is practically Olympic-sized, being just a foot shorter in width.

Senior forward Brooke Ammerman also doesn’t mind playing on the road, and she even finds it enjoyable.

“I think it is really going to help that we had a lot of fun playing those teams that first month, and going on the road is a lot of fun too,” she said. “We’re not distracted by things like being at home and always being together, so going on the road will be really fun. And being together all the time and then having those challenges and becoming good friends.”

From past experience as a Badger, Ammerman knows Ohio State is always a tough matchup that will present plenty of challenges.

“In my career, going to Ohio State it has always been one-goal games,” Ammerman said. “I mean, that’s a tiny rink, and you have to be physical and willing to play dirty and play tough because you are not going to be able to get the goals we are used to.”

Although rink size will be a factor, Wisconsin needs to focus on taking on a Buckeye squad that is off to an impressive start and has some good senior forwards leading the charge.

“[Ohio State] has got some good players,” Johnson said. “[Laura] McIntosh is a key player for them and Natalie Spooner is a great player, and for the past three years they have gotten good scoring out of those kids. They have some depth that should create some trouble for teams. They are off to a good start and they’ve got a new coach, and you look at all those things together and see they have a lot of energy and a good start here this season.”