Win and it's yours.
That must be the mindset of the Wisconsin women's hockey team as they hit the road for a series with Bemidji State this weekend. With a 16-point lead over Minnesota in the WCHA standings and six games to go, the Badgers need two points to claim the conference crown, something they can accomplish with a win in regulation or overtime.
After battling through the toughest conference in women's hockey and surviving with just two losses thus far, head coach Mark Johnson and his team know with one win, the WCHA is theirs.
""It's a long grind, it's a tough trophy to win,"" Johnson said. ""They're in position, they can see their hand on it, so I would imagine us coming out Friday night with some good energy.""
It is fair to ask if there will be an emotional drop off in the Badgers' series opener Friday night.
In their last two series—four games against Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota—Wisconsin took down teams with seven national titles between them, not to mention their biggest competition in the WCHA. This weekend, they will face a team lingering around the .500 mark that sits in the bottom half of the conference standings.
And after packing 10,668 fans into the Kohl Center for Saturday's game against Minnesota ,Wisconsin will face off in Bemidji's Sanford Center, where attendance will likely be in the hundreds rather than the thousands.
But given the conference title at stake, Johnson is not worried about a letdown against the Beavers.
""We've got some things to play for yet,"" Johnson said. ""We're playing for a title right now and if we win Friday night they've done something special.""
According to junior forward Brooke Ammerman, Bemidji's success against some of the conference's better teams—and close matchup against the Badgers in October—makes them a dangerous opponent.
""We just have to keep things in perspective,"" Ammerman said. ""Bemidji has beaten Minnesota, Mercyhurst and Duluth, three of the top teams in the country, and they gave us two good games when they were here.""
One reason that last meeting, a 2-0 UW win Oct. 10, was so close was junior Beaver goaltender Zuzana Tomcikova's 41-save performance. But with Tomcikova playing with the Slovakian national team in Turkey this weekend, the Badgers' chances at netting the two points they need look even better.
Should Wisconsin take those points, Ammerman would be a WCHA regular season champion for the first time in her career, something that would be a point of pride for her.
""In my two years here we've had a lot of success and that's one thing that I haven't been able to accomplish yet,"" said Ammerman, who watched Minnesota claim the title in 2009 and Minnesota-Duluth in 2010.
But while it would be a good reward for their success this year, junior forward Carolyne Prevost said the Badgers would not be satisfied if the WCHA regular season title was the only hardware they took home this year.
""Obviously it's not our ultimate goal,"" she said. ""We want to win that national championship.""
