After sweeping Syracuse last weekend, the Wisconsin women's hockey team will travel to Columbus and take on Ohio State to begin WCHA conference play this weekend.
The No. 2 Badgers will face their first ranked opponent this season in the No. 9 Buckeyes. Ohio State enters the series after a successful sweep of Providence last weekend.
Senior goaltender Jessie Vetter said Ohio State would be the Badgers' first real test of the season. She said the Buckeyes are a physical and scrappy team.""
""We'll definitely have to play a complete game, 60 minutes,"" she said.
Assistant coach Tracy Cornell said one of the biggest challenges for Wisconsin this weekend will be the size of the rink. She said the Kohl Center's rink is nearly Olympic size, and Ohio State's smaller rink could change the pace and intensity of the game.
""We're doing a lot of things in practice this week to take away time and space and to make the game feel smaller so that we're ready to have the opponent in our face right there right now,"" she said.
If the Badgers want to win this weekend, they will need Vetter to keep up her excellent level of play. Cornell said Vetter's veteran status and experience on the national and international scene add a lot to the Wisconsin team.
""We know we're very confident with her between the pipes. She knows the game very well, and it shows in her performance on the ice,"" she said.
Freshman forward Brooke Ammerman was also full of praise for Vetter.
""It's really nice to have a goalie of that caliber behind us because we know she'll come up with the big plays if we don't get our job done,"" she said. ""It's just awesome people able to shoot against her every day and just learn from the best, basically.""
Ammerman has made some of her own contributions so far this season, registering a hat trick last Saturday against Syracuse. Ammerman credits her linemates and the rest of the team with her successful game.
""I think my line works really hard and we feed off each other, and I'm lucky to play with two veterans on either wing and they make it a lot easier for me,"" she said. ""The whole team is really supportive.""
Cornell said she was impressed with the freshmen's play so far this season. She said Ammerman, Brittany Haverstock, Carolyne Prevost and Nikki Kaasa are very talented players.
""They've obviously contributed a lot to our success so far, although I think the real test will come this weekend when we start with our WCHA league games,"" she said.
Although Vetter is hesitant to look too far ahead, she said the ultimate goal for the season is to be able to ""do something special"" come playoff time.
""Obviously we want to try and win as many games as we can, but obviously improve weekend to weekend and just play some good hockey and hopefully we'll be in contention at the end of the season for either a WCHA championship or a national championship,"" she said.
