The No. 5 Wisconsin women's hockey team will try to extend its eight-game winning streak when it hosts North Dakota on Saturday and Sunday at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers (14-4-2 WCHA, 18-6-2) swept the Fighting Sioux (4-16-2, 4-20-4) in Grand Forks, N.D., in December 2007. However, Wisconsin will not take this series lightly, since it needs to win down the stretch in order to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
They've played a lot of [teams] close. Maybe they haven't got goals that might turn some of their losses into victories,"" UW head coach Mark Johnson said. ""[North Dakota head coach Brian Idalski] will get them to play hard and they'll be very competitive, so if you're going to beat them you have to match that intensity.""
Last weekend, North Dakota struggled against Minnesota-Duluth, losing 8-1 and 5-0.
This season's Sioux team is somewhat of a contrast from last season's which failed to win a conference game all season and did not have one player who scored in the double-digits. This season, North Dakota has three players with 10 or more points, including junior forward Melissa Jacques who has 16 points this season, 11 in WCHA play.
Wisconsin has saved its best hockey for the latter part of the season. Throughout the Badgers eight game winning campaign, six of those contests have been on the road.
""Since we came back from Christmas a lot of things have been real good,"" Johnson said. ""Practices have been good, the girl's attitudes have been good and you go through this three week period where they don't have to worry about school and they can enjoy playing. They can rest and relax and just be normal kids without having to worry about that school factor.""
Wisconsin is focusing hard on North Dakota to avoid a letdown performance, with a showdown next weekend against No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth could overshadow the series.
""I think the team, we're all sick of losing. Most of the team other than the seniors never really knew what it was like to lose,"" senior captain defenseman Emily Morris said. ""We've had two incredible seasons before this. I think everybody got a taste of it, nobody liked it, and so we know each game counts and we have to take it one game at a time.""
""We haven't even talked about what's down the road,"" Johnson said.
It should come as no surprise that this is the time of the season in which the Badgers are playing their best hockey. Under Johnson, Wisconsin is 87-13-5 after Jan. 1.
Wisconsin might invite a low scoring victory this weekend, because it has yet to record one this season. The Badgers are 18-0-0 when scoring three or more goals, and 0-6-2 when scoring two goals or less this season.
The two teams will face off Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Wisconsin's seniors will be honored during the annual Senior Day on Sunday prior to the contest.
