It is the Badgers of old again at the Kohl Center as the Wisconsin women's hockey team has turned it on heading into the stretch, winning eight straight games including six on the road.
Although Wisconsin sits at seventh in the PairWise rankings, meaning it is two spots away from not making the NCAA Tournament, head coach Mark Johnson is not concerned, confident that his team has the ability to play well enough to make the tournament.
If we take care of business, we'll be just fine,"" he said.
Senior defenseman and captain Emily Morris does not sense any urgency throughout the team with regards to making the tournament.
""We just take it one game, one shift, one period at a time. We haven't really thought about [our position nationally] a lot,"" she said.
The winning streak has largely been a result of the team finding an offensive identity, centered around senior forward Jinelle Zaugg. She was benched earlier this season against Minnesota-Duluth for part of a game but has scored five goals in the last eight games.
""I think it's a matter of mind and determination. I don't know how many strides I've made in a different direction,"" Zaugg said. ""I don't think I've really changed much. I've just tried to be more aggressive and bring my energy to the game.""
Johnson said he discussed with Zaugg how important it was that she take advantage of the last few months of her hockey career.
""She can do whatever she wants on the ice. If she wants to dominate a game, she has the set of skills, the height, the strength to do those things,"" he said.
Zaugg's three goal, two assist effort this weekend against St. Cloud State earned her the WCHA's Offensive Player of the Week award.
Vetter getting better
Junior goalie Jessie Vetter is quietly turning in another great season for Wisconsin.
She recorded her 23rd career shutout on Saturday against St. Cloud State and had flirted with shutouts three different times over the last three series before finally recording a shutout.
Against Minnesota State Vetter lost a shutout when Mavericks sophomore defenseman Kathleen Rosso scored with five seconds remaining in the game to make it 3-1.
Senior forward Erin Keys scored for Ohio State against Vetter in the final 10 minutes of a 4-1 Wisconsin win, and on Friday, Huskies sophomore forward Holly Roberts scored with 26 seconds remaining in the game to deny Vetter the shutout.
""We were joking about that going into this weekend that we need to focus in the last minute so we can actually get through with the shutout,"" Vetter said.
The netminder's accolades against St. Cloud State earned her the WCHA's Defensive Player of the Week award.
""It's pretty cool. Obviously we come from a very good conference with a lot of good goaltenders,"" she said. ""It's our [defense] in general that got the shutout and played really well this weekend to help me get that.""
Vetter is currently second in the conference with a 1.25 GAA and a .925 save percentage.
Duluth within reach
After 20 conference games played, Wisconsin now sits within striking distance of Minnesota-Duluth in the WCHA standings.
The Badgers currently trail the Bulldogs by eight points in the WCHA, but the Badgers have played two fewer games than the Bulldogs and will visit Duluth in two weekends. If Wisconsin sweeps Duluth and wins out and Duluth wins the rest of its other games, the tiebreaker would go to Minnesota-Duluth because it would have more conference wins.
This means Wisconsin will need help from one of Duluth's opponents. Perhaps the best chance of an upset occurring is this weekend, when the Bulldogs travel to Ohio State to face the Buckeyes.
