The UW women's hockey team (12-7-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 18-7-1 overall) looks to get back in the win column as they take on Minnesota State this weekend.
Despite being swept by Minnesota last weekend, the Badgers are confident heading into their match up against the Mavericks.
\We thought we played really well,"" senior defender Carla MacLeod said. ""We were moving the puck, we were skating, and we'll try to build upon that.""
""It was a good weekend,"" head coach Mark Johnson added. ""Overall I was very pleased with the level of commitment. The message this week is to take the speed and level of play we played at last weekend and bring it into our next eight games.""
Their level of commitment will be tested against a Minnesota State team that enters the Kohl Center on a hot streak. The Mavericks have gone 5-2-1 over their last eight games and appear much improved since their last meeting against the Badgers.
""They'll be playing better than they did back there,"" said Johnson, ""They'll know a lot about us... There's a lot of things that will be different then they did back there. The biggest difference will be the size of the ice sheet.""
The bigger ice sheet at the Kohl Center should help out the Badgers as they face a much different style of offense thea last week. Unlike the high-flying Golden Gophers, the Mavericks play a more hard-nosed style of offense.
""They'll work hard, they'll compete very hard,"" Johnson said of the Mavericks offence, ""They tend to run into people, they follow through on their checks. If you look at our last game up in Minneapolis it was sort of running down the autobahn in Germany, running at 220 kilometers an hour. This game is going to be like going in rush hour traffic in Manhattan.""
As they lack Olympic-calibur forwards, the Mavericks must play aggresivley as opposed to trying to finesse a shot.
Freshman forward Amanda Stohr leads Minnesota State with eight goals, and senior Melanie Salatino is second with seven.
""They're just a really solid team,"" said MacLeod of Minnesota State's lack of star power.
One area in which Minnesota State has struggled has been on the defensive end. Opponents have out -shot the Mavericks by 143 so far this season. As a result, the Badgers will have plenty of opportunities to take advantage of the Mavericks with their speed.
The Badgers will start their series against Minnesota State at 2:05 p.m. on Saturday at the Kohl Center.
