There are a number of different reasons that fall is the best season of the year. For the defending national champion women's hockey team, it is the time of the year that they will embark upon a journey in hopes of winning another banner that will grace the rafters of the Kohl Center.
""The one question in the back of our minds is how our players will react over the summer in regards to having a very successful season,"" head coach Mark Johnson said in his Monday press conference. ""[But] this group came back in very good shape.""
After a stellar season where the Badgers were able to tally 36 wins out of 41 games, including a 3-0 shutout of Minnesota in the national championship game, the women's hockey team is hoping to keep the momentum strong heading into this new season.
Already ranked No. 1 in the preseason USCHO.com poll, the Badgers have a total of 17 players returning from last year's squad, including team captain senior defender Bobbi-Jo Slusar and team co-captain senior forward Sara Bauer.
Due to her excellent play last season, Bauer was named the Patty Kazmaier award winner as the best player in the nation. She also led the team in scoring with 22 goals and 36 assists for a total of 58 points, ranking fourth in the nation. On top of winning the Kazmaier award, she was named as the Western Collegiate Hockey Association player of the year, as well as named to the first team all-WCHA team.
""Anytime you get a player of her magnitude back it's certainly going to help,"" Johnson said.
UW's second leading scorer on the team a year ago was team captain Slusar, who netted 12 goals and recorded 28 assists on her way to being named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year. She was also the only defender that made it into the Patty Kazmaier award final 10, and one of 15 Badgers ever to amass 30 points over the course of a season and is the new team captain.
""She's a perfect fit [for a captain],"" Johnson said. ""Bobbi-Jo's a very good leader.""
Another major impact player returning for Wisconsin is sophomore goalie Jessie Vetter. After not becoming the regular goaltender for UW until the 16th game of the year, Vetter became a force to be reckoned with for opposing teams. She set single season school records with a 0.78 goals against average and save percentage of .962 in her 13 appearances, including 12 starts last year. Vetter also was named as the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player thus becoming the first freshman and first goalie to ever be named as the MOP.
UW also welcomes back three juniors who all received significant playing time, including defender Mikka Nordby, defender Emily Morris and forward Jinelle Zaugg. Zaugg played a major role in the national championship game against rival Minnesota by scoring the first and third goals of the 3-0 shutout. Zaugg was the team leader in goals and had eight game winning goals and 10 power play goals to help UW win a school record 36 games last year. UW returns seven sophomores and hopes to acclimate seven new freshmen into the system.
National head coach of the year Mark Johnson remains behind the bench. Johnson recorded his 100th win as head coach last season against Minnesota, coached UW to school records in wins and led them to their first national title. The UW women's hockey team will open up play this Friday and Saturday evenings against Quinnipiac.
