In a week that saw Wisconsin women's hockey reclaim the top spot in the nation and have their head coach selected to lead the U.S. team at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, the Badgers showed they would not let off-ice issues affect their concentration by sweeping Ohio State.
Against the Buckeyes, Wisconsin showed why they are No. 1 in the country: the Badgers shut out Ohio State with a pair of 7-0 victories, the second of which gave future Olympic coach Mark Johnson his 200th coaching win at Wisconsin.
It's been a real good week,"" Johnson said after Sunday's win. He admitted that before the Badgers took the ice, he worried about their ability to focus on the task at hand without getting caught up the news.
""Obviously one of my concerns was how we were going to play this week,"" he said. ""[But] we had a good week in practice, we had a lot of energy, and the end result is we played six pretty good periods of hockey.""
Saturday and Sunday's games both had similar themes: the Wisconsin offense overwhelmed the Buckeyes, while the defense allowed very few shots, helping senior goalie Jessie Vetter earn two shutouts.
Vetter tied her school record of ten shutouts in a season and added to her NCAA record for career shutouts. They were not the hardest shutouts to earn - Ohio State totaled just ten shots on goal in Saturday's game and 25 between the two games, compared to Wisconsin's 94 on the weekend.
Sophomore Hilary Knight and senior Erika Lawler were a big part of the Badger offense. Over the series, Knight scored three times and added four assists, while Lawler racked up two goals and five assists.
Senior Angie Keseley, who had two goals and five assists herself over the weekend, complimented her teammates on the effect they have on the team.
""Hilary's an outstanding player - she's just a natural goal scorer,"" Keseley said. ""It's great to be on her line, just playing with her and Erika ... is a great honor, they make me a better player.""
Lawler put any worries about the Badgers' focus to rest early, scoring 26 seconds into the first game, and two goals from Knight later in the period set a tone for the contest. In the third, Lawler kick-started what had been a dormant Wisconsin offense with the first of four third period goals, giving the Badgers their first win of the weekend.
Sunday saw Keseley getting the early goals - she scored twice in the first period to give the Badgers an early lead. Four more goals in the second period and another in the third from Meghan Duggan capped off the second 7-0 win of the series.
Sophomore Malee Windmeier was one of four Badgers to score in the second period, her first of the season and her first since Feb. 3, 2008, meaning Windmeier's two most recent goals have both come on Super Bowl Sundays.
The Badgers now travel to Minnesota to take on the No. 2 Golden Gophers Feb. 7 and 8 in a series that will almost certainly decide the WCHA regular season championship. Coach Johnson said the team is motivated not just by the national implications of the series but also by the ""Border Battle"" rivalry between the schools.
""It's fun ... whether it's up at their arena or down here, it creates an excitement during practice throughout the week,"" he said.
Knight shared that sentiment, saying, ""obviously, every time we go there it's a big weekend.""
