When the top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team rolls into the National Hockey Center to face the St. Cloud State Huskies, it will be searching for its first win there since February 2006. Despite all their success, the Badgers owe three of their last seven ties and losses to the pesky Huskies.
The Huskies began their season with two losses to Minnesota Duluth by a combined score of 11-0. They bounced back last weekend, however, with a gritty weekend home series against then-No. 7 Minnesota, in which they won one game and tied the other. Wisconsin, however, will not be taken by surprise.
I don't want to come up with excuses for why we did tie, but St. Cloud [last season], kind of like Ohio [State], is a team that is always going to come back at you no matter what. You can never take it for granted if you are up a goal or up two goals,"" senior wing Jinelle Zaugg said.
""They are going to fight hare to the end. Their program has really developed a lot. I think it says a lot about their team that they once beat Minnesota and last year they gave us a good battle so we know they are a good team this year.""
Entering the game, the Badgers boast the conference's best offense and its top seven scorers, including freshman center Mallory Deluce, junior wing Angie Keseley, freshman wing Hilary Knight and Zaugg. Each has seven points on the campaign.
The Huskies counter with an offense whose top players only have three points each. Only have five players who have put the puck between the pipes (the Badgers have 14). Their goaltending has likewise had trouble, giving up almost four goals per game. There are a few bright spots for SCSU.
""They've got two pretty good lines and a third line that can compete. They have some skilled players,"" Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said. ""They scored a few power-play goals against Minnesota, so we'll be able to watch some film on them tomorrow before our practice and go out and try to counter
some of the things they may try to do against us.""
Junior goaltender Jessie Vetter will be key in shutting down St. Cloud's anemic offense. Her .59 goals against average and .951 save percentage each rank second in the WCHA.
The Badgers' special teams have also been excellent. They have killed 21 of 22 penalties and are scoring on 29 percent of their power plays.
The Huskies' home ice is difficult for opposing players to play on due to its irregular size.
""I know they have a really wide rink,"" said freshman defender Olivia Jakiel. ""We are used to playing on Kohl Center rink and the Shell. So it's going to be a little tougher with the wider rink, and we're just going to have to step up our game like that.""
Zaugg, Vetter, sophomore wing Meghan Duggan and junior center Erika Lawler were all selected to the U.S. Women's Select Team. They will compete against other nations in Sweden in mid-November.
The Badgers claimed another honor this week when Deluce earned the title of WCHA Rookie of the Week after scoring two goals and an assist over the weekend. Freshmen have accounted for 23 of Wisconsin's 70 goals.
""All the freshmen have done really well. I play on a line with Mallory [Deluce] and Hilary [Knight], so they might be more obvious to me that have been able to step up a lot. They are both really talented players and are a lot of fun to play with,"" Zaugg said. ""Kelly Nash has been playing great at forward and defense Malee [Windmeier] has been doing a great job.""
The puck drops at 7 p.m. Friday and can be heard on uwbadgers.com.
