By Eric Levine
the daily cardinal
The Wisconsin women's hockey team was welcomed home Monday night by Badger fans in the Nicholas Johnson Pavilion, following the team's 4-1 victory over Minnesota-Duluth this weekend in Lake Placid, N.Y., for its first-ever back-to-back NCAA championship.
Wisconsin's marching band and spirit squad entertained the fans until emcee Brian Posick of WIBA Radio introduced the players and coaches of the hockey team.
""One championship is difficult. Back to back is ridiculous,"" UW Athletic Director Barry Alvarez explained. ""You have a target on your back, because everybody's shooting at you and everyone is going to give you their best shot, and this group certainly withstood all of that.""
""The national title you've brought back to Madison is the result of months of careful crafting and hard work by all of you,"" Chancellor John Wiley informed the team.
The ceremony capped a record-setting season for the program. Drawing its highest crowd ever at the Kohl Center, the program also set an NCAA mark for fewest losses with one, highest win percentage ever at .927 and outscored its opponents by more than five goals per game.
""The team was very successful last year ... and as human nature does a lot of times, you get complacent. You might lax off or you might become a little bit soft. This group didn't do it,"" head coach Mark Johnson said. ""If you watched the games Friday and Sunday, you saw a group of players that really were committed.""
Johnson's visit to Lake Placid was the second in which he coached or played in competitive hockey. The first came in 1980, when he was a part of the United States team that beat the USSR on its way to the Olympic Gold Medal.
""When the bid came out and Lake Placid won the bid to host the Frozen Four, I thought in the back of my mind how cool it would be to take my team back there,"" Johnson said.
""It just made the championship that much more special to be in Lake Placid,"" senior defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson said. ""Words can't describe the feeling to be there.""
The captain of the Badgers, senior defenseman Bobbi-Jo Slusar, described how back-to-back championships made for a good ending to her career.
""For the seniors it was a last hurrah. What a way to go out,"" Slusar said.
Wisconsin's leading scorer, senior forward Sara Bauer, USCHO.com and WCHA player of the year, confirmed that her choice to attend Wisconsin was the correct one.
""The past four years have definitely reassured me that I couldn't have made a better decision,"" Bauer said. ""It's such a great environment here. It's a great place to go to school and a great place to play hockey.""
