After playing St. Cloud State last week in the regular season finale, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team will open up the WCHA Playoffs against the Huskies this weekend.

The Badgers (24-6-4, 19-6-3 WCHA) split the two-game series last weekend in Madison, losing the Friday game 2-1 before defeating St. Cloud State (8-26-1, 5-22-1 WCHA) 5-0 in the second one.

Finding the back of the net five times last Sunday helped Wisconsin build confidence going into the most important games of the season so far.

“We got some pucks behind their goaltender and certainly some of the players that you want to walk away from that game with a little bit more confidence in scoring, we were able to accomplish that,” Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson said.

The Badgers were stifled by St. Cloud State goaltender Julie Friend during Friday’s game, as she recorded 52 saves on 53 attempts. Wisconsin’s lone goal came with just 15 seconds left in the game.

Wisconsin was able to keep the Huskies’ leading scorer, forward Molly Illikainen, off the board in the previous series and will try to do more of the same this weekend.

There is a strong win-or-go-home mentality facing each team, which will likely influence Wisconsin and St. Cloud State throughout the weekend.

“I think the series will be similar, but the intensity is going to be higher because it’s the playoffs, so it’s bigger, and you play for the end of a season,” Wisconsin sophomore goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens said.

With every series from this point on potentially being a season-ending one, the coaches are echoing the intensity as well, senior Katy Josephs said.

“They don’t want their season to be over, so we can expect a lot more intensity from them than we did this past weekend,” Josephs said. “It will be a battle. It’s always a battle to end someone’s season.”

Josephs said she believes Johnson has finally found the lines to keep the scoring up for the playoffs.

Both coaches could make changes to their respective lineups and game plan because of the recent match-up.

“History tells us as you get into games 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, it becomes more of a chess game, so I’m sure there will be some adjustments on their end as they practice the next three days as well as what we’ll try to do,” Johnson said.

“The big thing is that at this time of year your ability to execute under the pressure of the playoffs, knowing that if you’re not successful, the season may end.”

Quick Facts

Who: St. Cloud State (8-26-1 overall, 5-22-1 WCHA) at Wisconsin (24-6-4, 19-6-3)
Where: LaBahn Arena

Game 1: Friday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, March 1, 7 p.m.

Wisconsin Players to Watch:
Annie Pankowski – 35 points, 16 G, 19 A
Karley Sylvester – 34 points, 12 G, 22 A
Brittany Ammerman – 31 points, 11 G, 20 A

St. Cloud State Players to Watch:
Molly Illikainen – 18 points, 9 G, 9 A
Audrey Hanmer – 14 points, 5 G, 9 A
Abby Ness – 13 points, 5 G, 8 A