After coming out of this past weekend series against rival Minnesota with one win and one loss, the Wisconsin women's hockey team (20-3-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 25-4-1 overall) locked up its first ever WCHA regular season title. The team originally needed two wins by themselves to win the conference but after a surprising loss at North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth helped the Badgers clinch the title with only one win.
However, with four regular season games remaining, there is still some work to be done.
'It's nice to win the WCHA,' Badger head coach Mark Johnson said. 'But it's not the big prize. The big prize is at the end of the season and that's what I think everybody shoots for when we start in September.'
It is clear that the team is going to enjoy the pomp and circumstance that comes with winning a conference as tough as the WCHA, at least for one weekend. When the Badgers take on Minnesota-Mankato this coming weekend they will acknowledge the grit and determination that has taken the seniors through four tough years by presenting the WCHA trophy and celebrating Senior night on Saturday.
'I'm very happy for our seniors, especially,' Johnson said. 'It's fun to see kids get rewarded for their work over the course of time. And they got rewarded (with the WCHA title).'
Along with giving coach Johnson his 100th career win, they were able to get the job done at home on Saturday night. The team lost a tough game Friday night when No. 5 Minnesota came into the Kohl Center and handed the Badger women their second loss in three games by a score of 3-1.
'I think a lesson we learned Friday night in our game against Minnesota is one that the team might have been a little bit comfortable with their position, their ranking, their opportunity to win the WCHA, and they found out that Minnesota came out and they were a little bit hungry,' Johnson said. 'They battled a little bit harder than we did.'
Yet the Badgers were resilient and did not let the Gophers sweep them on their home ice, and fought back on Saturday to split the weekend series at a game a piece by winning 3-1.
Although the Badgers have locked up the WCHA title, they are still planning on going out and handling themselves in the same fashion that they have been over the course of the year. By playing Badger style hockey, remaining disciplined and staying out of the penalty box, the team hopes to strive toward the ultimate prize which is the national championship.
'We'll continue to do the same things we did in September when we first started practice,' Johnson said. 'We won't change anything other than the fact that we'll get ourselves prepared to play (Minnesota) Mankato Friday night.'
Now in his fourth season as head coach of Wisconsin, Johnson has created a monster of sorts. The women's hockey team has won over 20 games each of the three seasons that he has been at the helm, and he is turning the team into a national powerhouse. It is evident as the wins keep adding up, that the public has seemed to take notice. Saturday night's game had an attendance of 1,737.
'It is very rewarding for the players to have those types of crowds,' Johnson said. 'It's a fun atmosphere and it's enjoyable for our players to come out there and to see that number of people in the crowd.'
