Heading into an NCAA quarterfinal meeting with the Harvard Crimson, UW women's hockey head coach Mark Johnson has multiple issues facing him: why his top-ranked team received such a tough opponent, how to stop the Crimson's high-powered offense and who to play in goal.
The NCAA paired Wisconsin against sixth-seeded Harvard instead of No. 7 Boston College so that Dartmouth would avoid playing against the Crimson, its ECHL foe. Therefore Dartmouth, the third overall ranked team, will battle BC, a lower ranked team than Harvard.
""Obviously they didn't want teams in the same league to play each other. That's very evident in the pairings,"" Johnson said.
Harvard presents a tougher challenge than Boston College because it has a top three Patty Kazmaier finalist in senior forward Julie Chu, a top 10 Kazmaier runner-up in sophomore forward Sarah Vaillancourt and a defenseman Johnson has chosen to play for the U.S. National Team in April, junior Caitlin Cahow. Chu is third in the country in points with 66, one tally ahead of Wisconsin's senior forward Sara Bauer, also a Kazmaier top three finalist.
""She's obviously a wonderful player,"" Johnson said about Chu. ""It's our job to try to shut her down. She's the player that makes that team go, as with Sara and our team.""
He later admitted that Bauer and Chu will frequently match up against each other on the ice.
Addressing the goaltending situation, Johnson shed light onto how he will choose one of the top two goalies in the nation to play in net for the final three games of the NCAA Tournament.
""We'll look at our opponent first. We'll get an opportunity in the next couple of days to break down some film and see what Harvard presents and what goalie may match up the best in that situation,"" Johnson said. ""We have to make the tough decision ... so hopefully by Thursday we'll have a pretty good idea.""
Sophomore Jessie Vetter is second in the nation in goals-against-average, behind senior Christine Dufour, and started all three games in the NCAA Tournament last season en route to the national championship. Dufour has not lost in 26 straight games dating back to October 2005.
Last season Johnson benched Dufour down the stretch in favor of Vetter and then-senior Meghan Horras. He set the precedent of choosing the younger player over the senior in selecting Vetter over Horras in the 2006 national tournament. Now his decision is more complex because Vetter has won a championship.
""She showed us a lot last spring in the three games that she competed in the NCAA Tournament,"" Johnson said, adding that her tournament experience will impact his decision.
Johnson, however, recognizes that his other option does not lose. Dufour is 45-5-2 in her four years at Wisconsin.
""How can you go against that?"" he added, confirming the difficulty of his upcoming verdict.
