With the WCHA regular season title clinched, the Wisconsin women's hockey team (25-1-4) still has two regular season series to worry about before postseason play. Ohio State is in town this weekend with its own chance for a home spot in the conference tournament.
The Buckeyes have a nationwide top-10 scorer in junior forward Erin Keys and three of the top scoring defensemen in the nation in seniors Amber Bowman, Tessa Bonhomme and junior Lisa Chesson.
Wisconsin will need to score early against Buckeye senior goalie Erika Vanderveer, who boasts a 1.92 GAA. Wisconsin has to focus on holding late leads, something it struggled to do at Minnesota-Duluth this past weekend, which led to a tie and a hard-fought overtime Badger victory.
This stretch of the season is Wisconsin's second prolonged test, as the UMD and Ohio State span marks the second time the Badgers will face teams back-to-back with chances at making the NCAA tournament.
Wisconsin beat Ohio State in Columbus twice by the same score of 3-2 in October. None of the Badgers are looking past the Buckeyes.
""This weekend [keeping our focus] is pretty easy. They have a lot to play for so if we don't get ready to play it's not going to be a very successful weekend,"" head coach Mark Johnson said.
""[The WCHA regular season championship] is just one of the titles we're hoping to get to,"" freshman forward Meghan Duggan added as a reason the team is staying focused.
Duggan is one of the reasons for Wisconsin's success this season, netting 31 points in 24 conference games, good enough for second overall in the WCHA. For the third straight week, she earned the conference's rookie of the week award.
Senior captain Bobbi-Jo Slusar compared the freshman sensation to Sara Bauer, the nation's second-leading scorer, and said she wouldn't be surprised if Duggan followed in Bauer's footsteps.
The two wins at Ohio State have helped Wisconsin's PairWise ranking, the chief tool used to determine the NCAA field. Wisconsin, which is essentially guaranteed one of eight spots in the NCAA tournament, remains second in the rankings behind Mercyhurst. A sweep of No. 10 Ohio State might be enough to propel Wisconsin to the top spot in the rankings, as the PairWise rankings reward teams for wins against strong opponents. However, Wisconsin is not concerned about its position at this point.
""I like being number two. You don't have as much pressure, and you don't really have anything to worry about. It's nice to be behind and not in the spotlight,"" Slusar said.
""Like last year, we're in very good position. When you're up near the top and you're the defending champion, people look at you a little differently and want to come at you a little bit harder. The most important ranking is the one on March 18 at the end of the year,"" Johnson said.
WCHA trophy presentation
The team will be presented its WCHA trophy after Sunday's game against Ohio State. UW clinched its second consecutive conference title after beating Minnesota Duluth 2-1 in overtime last Saturday.
