The Wisconsin women's hockey team begins its bid for a third straight national championship when it heads to Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., to face the Dutchwomen this weekend.
Although the Badgers lost much of their core from last year's squad in Sara Bauer, Meaghan Mikkelson and Bobbi-Jo Slusar, they return two of their top three scorers in sophomore forward Meghan Duggan and senior forward Jinelle Zaugg. Junior goalie Jessie Vetter, who had her 542-minute postseason shutout streak snapped in the 4-1 national championship victory over Minnesota-Duluth, remains Wisconsin's top net-minder.
After the team's annual preseason Cardinal-White scrimmage Monday, head coach Mark Johnson said he is optimistic that his team will be able to compete with the rest of the nation.
I think up front we have a chance to be pretty good,"" Johnson said. ""Some of our young defensemen, kids that didn't play maybe as much last year, have to step up and log more minutes. Hopefully as we go through the first part of the season, those kids will get comfortable, they'll look better, and gain some confidence.""
In the Cardinal-White scrimmage, which saw the Cardinal skate away with a 6-2 victory, the Badgers saw highly touted recruit Mallory Deluce score on her first shot against Vetter. Five-foot, eleven-inch freshman forward Hilary Knight, another incoming catch for the Badgers, generated multiple scoring chances, trying to secure a spot on the top line along with Zaugg and possibly Deluce at center. Freshman forward Kelly Nash scored three times for the Cardinal in her debut.
""It felt great. It was a nice pass by Duggan over on the side and she set me up well,"" Deluce said of her goal against Vetter.
""You like to see your younger players in a game setting, and a couple of them did very well and it looks like they felt comfortable out there,"" Johnson said. ""Overall, obviously we have a bunch of things to work on, but for a start it was pretty good.""
The scrimmage occurred just two days after Wisconsin's first practice. The Badgers seemed to struggle early on, something to be expected of a team that is allotted just six days of practice before its season opener at Union.
""You'd like to have at least a couple of weeks just to give the kids the opportunity to work with the coaches and get on the ice and actually do some teaching prior to getting into game competition,"" Johnson said. ""But it is what it is.""
The Badgers' play in the latter part of the scrimmage indicated they should be set to go against the Dutchwomen and the rest of the nation. The Dutchwomen were one of college hockey's least successful teams last season, posting a 4-26-0 record. They do not pose much of a threat to the Badgers and should serve as a warmup for Wisconsin's home opener against Robert Morris in two weeks.
Even without Bauer, Slusar and Mikkelson, the Badgers' lineup is deep enough to contend for another national championship. Wisconsin is the unanimous preseason No. 1 overall team in the USA Today poll, and Johnson anticipates its opponents will be focused on dethroning the Badgers.
""The fun part of our league is that as we go through the season, the competition is there and the parity is there, and you need to play well or you're not going to win,"" he said.
