Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson may or may not believe in déjà vu, but as his team advances to the WCHA Final Face-Off for the fifth straight season, it may be time to start believing. For the third consecutive year, the Badgers will face North Dakota in the semifinals.
Johnson will certainly be hoping for a better result this time around. Wisconsin lost the two previous matchups in this round of the tournament by one-goal margins, as they failed to surpass 35 shots on goal in either contest.
That shouldn’t be too much of an issue for the 2014-’15 Badgers, who averaged 40 shots on goal per game over their four matchups with North Dakota this season. A barrage of pucks sent to the net haven’t always resulted in an abundance of goals for UW, though, and they face one of the nation’s best goaltenders this weekend.
North Dakota junior Shelby Amsley-Benzie, named the WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year, leads the conference in save percentage at 95.4 percent, and she is the only goaltender to be named a Top-Ten finalist for the the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award this year.
Her stellar netminding is a big reason for UND’s success. Amsley-Benzie allowed only 32 goals this season, the fewest among regular starters in the WCHA. She was backed up by the conference’s third highest-scoring offense, and this combination will have the Badgers on upset alert.
North Dakota has won six games in a row and have only lost twice in 2015 so far. During this winning streak, they’re averaging nearly four goals and 37 shots on net per game while allowing only three total goals.
UND faces a Wisconsin team on a tear of their own. The Badgers have allowed only nine goals over their last 11 games while averaging over three goals a game themselves. This collision of two hot teams should provide an excellent playoff matchup that will test both squads.
“Some of our upperclassmen have been through it for a couple of years,” Johnson said. “I’m sure they will prepare themselves as we get closer to Saturday to come out and play a real solid hockey game.”
Only one Badger scored against North Dakota in either of the previous two postseason matchups. Back in 2013, then-freshman Erika Sowchuk gave Wisconsin some late-game hope with four minutes left to bring the team within one, but it was too-little too-late, as the Badgers fell short 2-1.
If Wisconsin can reverse its fortunes of previous seasons, they will face the winner of Minnesota-Bemidji State Sunday. Minnesota is heavily favored as they dominated the WCHA all season, but the Beavers did upset the Gophers early in the season.
If the Badgers do play Minnesota, it would be déjà vu again as these two teams have faced each other in two of the last three Final Face-Offs and could very well meet there again in the NCAA tournament this year.
