When the Wisconsin women's hockey team takes the ice this weekend, it will do so from a familiar position: the top of the polls.
After the defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs lost back-to-back games against Minnesota last weekend, the Badgers took over the top spot in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls released Tuesday. Wisconsin received an overwhelming majority of first-place votes in each poll.
The team's reaction to the news was mixed. Although some players embraced the added pressure, others said they would prefer to fly under the national radar early in the season.
It's a nice honor that people respect your team and give you that credit, but I don't like being at No. 1 too much because you do have the added pressure of being No. 1 in the nation,"" senior goaltender Jessie Vetter said.
While Vetter would rather avoid the pressure of the nation's top spot, other Badgers welcomed it.
""I love it,"" junior forward Jasmine Giles said. ""It's been that like that most of the time I've been here, and I love being [part of] the team that everyone plays their 'A' game against.
I wouldn't want it any other way.""
The Badgers skate into this weekend's series with a perfect 2-0-0 record in WCHA play. Vetter, who gave up her first goals of the year in a 7-4 win against Ohio State last Friday, rebounded nicely to record her third shutout of the season Saturday.
""I came in a little more prepared,"" Vetter said. ""That was the first competition where I saw more than 15 or 16 shots, so it caught me a little off guard. We were very happy to come out with a sweep.""
With series against both Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth looming at the end of the month, it would be easy for Wisconsin to overlook this weekend's series against the Bemidji State Beavers. Having yet to open league play, the Beavers (1-1-2) remain a bit of a mystery early in the year. BSU earned a split with Wayne State to begin the season and then battled to consecutive ties with Northeastern last weekend.
""We're not overlooking Bemidji at all right now,"" senior forward Erika Lawler said. ""They're going to be holding onto us, clutching and grabbing, doing everything in their power to get us to stay out of the scoring area. It's not going to be pretty.""
Still, the upcoming series with the No. 2 Golden Gophers isn't far from anyone's mind.
""It's pretty cool playing Minnesota in general, just because they're a great team,"" Vetter said. ""No matter what happens this weekend, it's going to be fun.""
The Badgers and Beavers face off at the John S. Glas Fieldhouse on the BSU campus Friday night before traveling to Eveleth, Minn., Saturday night to take part in the inaugural women's United States Hockey Hall of Fame Game at the historic Hippodrome.
""We are thinking about the Gophers and Duluth the weekend after, but right now our focus is definitely on Bemidji,"" Lawler said.
