After starting their season with eight home wins the top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team will hit the road for the first time to take on Border Battle rival Minnesota this weekend.
Having spent the opening four series of the season inside the Kohl Center, many of Wisconsin's freshmen are excited for their first road trip. Freshman forward Brittany Ammerman said she is ready to play away from Madison, and the rivalry with the No. 6 Gophers makes the trip all the better.
""You're a little nervous, but it's more nervous excitement,"" Ammerman said. ""We're a few series into the season so we have our feet under us.
""A rival with Minnesota is always going to be a tough game but we're excited.""
Head coach Mark Johnson said he has seen that anticipation in the team's practices this week.
""You can tell the excitement and energy level goes up a little bit compared to a normal week,"" he said. ""We've always had good and interesting battles against them and Friday and Saturday won't be much different.""
Coming from River Vale, N.J., Ammerman said the intense rivalry between Wisconsin and Minnesota hockey is not something she was used to.
""We don't really have anything like that out east,"" she said. ""It's definitely different in the Midwest. Hockey's a lot more intense out here.""
Ammerman and the rest of the Badger forwards will have their work cut out for them against the Gophers' talented goaltender, sophomore Noora Raty. Through five starts this season Raty boasts four shutouts and a .951 save percentage, and only let in her first goal of the season against No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth last Saturday.
Johnson said the Wisconsin offense will need to create traffic in front of Raty if they want to score against the Finnish netminder, who has shared starting duties with junior Alyssa Rogan.
""Our job is to try to take her eyes away, get some deflections, get some rebounds,"" Johnson said of Raty. ""If she can see the first shot she's going to make a lot of those saves.""
The Badgers will face off in Minneapolis at 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday night.
Some more notes ahead of Friday's game:
Raty's Olympic connection:
The last time Johnson saw Raty was at the 2010 Olympics, when Team USA beat Finland 6-0 in group play. Junior forward Hilary Knight and senior forward Meghan Duggan both scored in that game, and Knight said that success will be in the back of her mind. ""It's nice that we've got that confidence booster there,"" she said. ""But people play different back on their college team."" Johnson pointed out, however, that Raty also put in a 49-save performance against Team USA in an earlier matchup at the Canada Cup, which Finland won 3-2. Raty went on to backstop Finland in their 3-2 overtime win over Sweden to claim the bronze medal in Vancouver—Team USA won silver.
Shrinking their game
Wisconsin will have to deal with a small ice sheet for the first time this year when they head to Ridder Arena this weekend. Having played their first eight games at the Kohl Center (200' x97' ice sheet), the switch to Ridder (200' x 85') could make for an interesting first period as the Badgers adjust to the smaller space. Johnson has compared playing on a small ice sheet to a game of pinball, and said the first half of the first period will be important in seeing how Wisconsin adjusts.
Sister connection on the third line
Both Ammerman sisters, Brittany and junior Brooke, play on Wisconsin's third line alongside sophomore Breann Frykas. The Ammermans combined for four goals and three assists over the Halloween weekend series against Minnesota State.
Hungry Gophers
Minnesota is coming off of a sweep at the hands of Minnesota-Duluth last weekend, when the Gophers lost 3-2 and 4-2. Minnesota has struggled against the WCHA's more talented teams, having lost both of their games against No. 7 North Dakota, the Sioux's first victories against the Gophers in program history.
