The UW women hockey team's weekend series with Duluth will pit two titans of the sport against each other. Over the past few seasons, these two teams have engaged in many entertaining games.
The Badgers sit four points behind Duluth in the WCHA standings and are ranked No. 4 in the country. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 3.
They got a couple games in hand on us but when we usually play these guys, whether it's here or up in Duluth, they're generally pretty competitive games, close games,"" head coach Mark Johnson said. ""It seems the last few years we've gone into overtime on multiple occasions. But they've got good players. They got a young team, but they've got good players.""
Duluth is coming off a weekend in which it outscored Minnesota State 13-5. The Bulldogs lead the conference in goal scoring with 3.71 per game and power play conversion rate with 21.6 percent.
The Badgers lead the conference in defense, allowing only one goal per game. Johnson knows how important the defense is when the offense is not hitting on all cylinders.
""Obviously it starts in our net with our goaltender and her ability to keep the puck out of that,"" Johnson said. ""Our margin for error is not real high right now because we are not putting the puck in the net like we should. So if you're running through a period of time where you're not scoring as much as you want to score, then your goalie's got to be pretty good, and she's been pretty good.""
Wisconsin junior netminder Jessie Vetter leads the WCHA with a goals against average of 1.14. She has 21 career shutouts, nine short of the NCAA record.
The Badger offense is led by senior forward Jinelle Zaugg and freshman forward Hilary Knight who have combined for 33 points. As a team, the Badgers broke out for seven goals against Bemidji State Friday but could not put any of their 50 shots into the net Saturday.
The Bulldog roster boasts 14 players who come from outside of the U.S.
""They've got a young team but it's international flavor. They've got Sweeds and Finns and Russians and Canadians and Americans, but they can hurt you in a hurry."" Johnson said. ""Our job is to play at a real high level and see if we can maintain that for 60 minutes.""
Wisconsin's history with Duluth has featured a plethora of big games in the past three seasons. A win over No. 8 Duluth in the 2005 WCHA final five catapulted the Badgers into their first ever NCAA Tournament.
Last season Duluth inflicted the Badgers' only loss of the season. Wisconsin, however, took the most important game, downing the Bulldogs 4-1 in the championship game.
Some of the players disagree about the nature of the Wisconsin-Duluth Rivalry.
""I think they know we're a good team and we know that they're a good team,"" senior defender Emily Morris said.
""We've spent all week preparing for each other, and in the end, we know that we're both going to bring our A game so who wants it more is the team that's going to win.""
Junior defender Rachel Bible had a slightly different take.
""Out of all the teams, Duluth is our biggest rivalry. Even bigger than Minnesota,"" Bible said. ""They're just really fun to play because we hate them so much.""
