Seventeen WCHA regular-season and tournament crowns. Seven NCAA National titles. Five Patty Kazmaier Award winners. This is just a small sample of the rich and historic traditions of the Wisconsin and Minnesota women's hockey programs, and these traditions will be on display this weekend, as No.10 Wisconsin (6-4-2 WCHA, 10-4-2 overall) travels to Ritter Arena to take on undefeated and unanimous No. 1 Minnesota (10-0-0, 16-0-0) in the Border Battle rivalry.
The Badgers come into the showdown playing by far their best hockey of the year thus far, having only lost once in their last eight contests. It is due in large part to a high octane of offensive firepower, especially from senior forward Brianna Decker, who leads the team with 27 points, and stout defense led by junior goaltender Alex Rigsby. While the team's confidence may be at a season-high, it faces a daunting uphill battle against the Gophers, who are riding a 24-game winning streak—an NCAA record—not to mention they are tops in the nation in scoring average (6.12 goals per game) and goals against average (0.92 games per game).
“The one thing we know is that we're going to get tested but that's OK,” head coach Mark Johnson said. “Having success the last month, month and a half and playing pretty good hockey, it gives you confidence. … We'll come away from the weekend having a better feeling and understanding with where we are.”
From a defensive perspective, senior defenseman Saige Pacholok knows what fuels the Gophers' offense and how dangerous they can be on the ice.
“They love being around the net. From what we saw on video [Thursday] and have seen in the past, they love being around the net, love being offensive, kind of more of a risk-taking type of team,” she said. “I think we just need to keep them outside of the slot area and have our sticks in good positions. I think if we work hard in the defensive zone, the offensive zone will just come naturally to us and we'll have a lot of fun back in their zone.”
Junior forward Amanda Kessel and freshman forward Hannah Brandt are at the forefront of the dynamic Minnesota offense, as they rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation in points with 45 and 43 points, respectively. Defensively, senior goaltender Noora Räty has been nothing short of dominant this season, as she has a save percentage of 0.77 and has recorded six shutouts.
Throughout its previous eight games, the Wisconsin offense has had contributions in the offensive zone from multitude of players, most notably senior forward/defenseman Alev Kelter, which has taken the pressure off of Decker to produce scoring chances. If the Badgers are going to find success this weekend, the role players will have to play a key part.
“They're going to have to,” Johnson said. “With a couple of injuries we have, we'll take Alev—she's been playing wing for most of the season—we're going to have to move her back to defense to give us another body back there. [Senior forward Lauren] Unser, who played a couple games this past weekend on a regular basis, will get more of an opportunity. They're going to have to play well.”
With a greater sense of familiarity and friendships being formed off the ice due to the fact players from both teams have played together in international competition, the competitive nature between these two rivals will still be high.
“A lot of us know them, we have a lot of experience on our team—as do they—but I think we'll be ready for the weekend,” Decker said. “It's kind of fun to go out and compete against your friends.”
