No. 1 Badgers will hit the road
November 12, 2008 | Women's Hockey
The unbeaten Wisconsin women's hockey team (10-0-2, 6-0-2 WCHA) will return to action this week after taking a week off. The Badgers will travel to Grand Forks N.D. to play the Fighting Sioux Nov. 15-16. The Badgers enter the series never losing to the Sioux, winning in all 20 matchups.
THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE
Saturday, Nov. 15 ' 2:07 p.m. (CT) - ATCLID=1622782&SPSID=58668&SPID=6403&db_oem_id=13500"> --> Live Streaming
Sunday, Nov. 16 - 2:07 p.m. (CT) - ATCLID=1622782&SPSID=58668&SPID=6403&db_oem_id=13500"> --> Live Streaming
at North Dakota (7-2-1, 4-1-1)
Engelstad Arena
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-The SPSID=58668&SPID=6403&DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=1622782"> --> Fighting Sioux have begun their season in strong fashion with their best start ever in a 7-2-1 (4-1-1-0 WCHA) record. North Dakota is also coming off a bye week.
-After its first-ever sweep of Ohio State, the University of North Dakota women's hockey team was ranked 10th in the USCHO.com/CSTV Division I women's hockey poll, released Monday, Nov. 3. It was the first time in program history that the Sioux have made the ranks of the top 10. Their ranking was short lived as they fell out of the rankings but are receiving votes in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll and the USCHO.com.
-The four game winning streak for the Sioux is their longest since entering the WCHA in the 2004-05 season. The previous long was in that same season when they won three in a row (two versus Quinnipiac, one versus Minnesota State).
-Melissa Jaques leads the Fighting Sioux in points (6-10) with 16 and is tied for 14th in the nation with 1.60 points-per-game.
FOUR NATIONS CUP
-Wisconsin was one of two schools with four players representing the U.S. Select Team to play in the Four Nations Cup. Minnesota is the only other school with four, while Boston College has two and Dartmouth and New Hampshire each have one. Erika Lawler, Hilary Knight, Meghan Duggan and Jessie Vetter represented UW.
-Former Badgers Molly Engstrom and Kerry Weiland were also on the roster for Team USA. While Bobbi-Jo Slusar and Meaghan Mikkelson played for Canada.
-Jessie Vetter made 30 saves in net, as the NAV=TU_02_02&id=245462"> --> U.S. Women's Select Team earned a 3-2 victory over Canada in the championship game of the 2008 Women's Four Nations Cup at the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena. Team USA finished the tournament with a 2-1-0-1 record (W-OTW-OTL-L) to capture its third Four Nations Cup title in the history of the event (first since 2003).
-Vetter earned U.S. Player of the Game honors for her performance in the championship game. In the 10-minute 4-on-4 sudden-death overtime session, Team USA killed off its 20th straight power play in the tournament and Vetter made eight saves in net to force a shootout, where she stopped the puck in four rounds.
-Although no Badgers scored in the championship game, sophomore Hilary Knight finished as the leading scorer for Team USA with five points (3-2). Knight was also named U.S. player of the game against Sweden when she scored two goals. Meghan Duggan also contributed two goals and an assist throughout the tournament.
LOOKING BACK
-The Badgers won and tied in the two-game series against No. 7 Minnesota Duluth to remain unbeaten. Wisconsin came from behind in both games to beat the Badgers 2-1 in the first game and tie 2-2 in the second game. The Badgers fought back to improve their record to 10-0-2 overall and 6-0-2 in conference play. The Badgers gained an extra point in the conference standings after Kelly Nash made the only goal in the three-round shootout at the end of the 2-2 draw.
AMONG THE ELITE
-Wisconsin is first in the nation for current unbeaten streak and penalty kill. They are second in combined special teams, power-play, scoring offense, scoring margin, scoring defense and third in team winning percentage.
KNIGHT STAYS ON TOP
-Sophomore Hilary Knight not only leads the team in almost every category but also the WCHA.
-Knight is tied for ninth in the nation for points per game (1.90) and fourth in goals per game (1.30). She is tied for second in power-play goals with five and tied for first in game-winning goals with three.
-Knight has earned at least one point in nine out of the ten games she has played in; she has had three multi-goal games and six multi-point games. Knight had an eight game point streak beating her previous streak of five games last season.
COME-FROM-BEHIND WIN
-Wisconsin has made a habit of turning it on late as they have come-from-behind to win against Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth. The Badgers get better every period as they have scored most of their goals in the third period with 25. The second period they have scored 20 compared to 14 goals in the first.
NO. 1
-Wisconsin remains in the top spot for the fifth week in a row, receiving all the first place votes in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey Poll and the USCHO.com poll. The Badgers have remained ranked second or better all eight weeks.
POWER-PLAY DOMINANCE
-The Badgers have had success on the power-play with 33.8 percent going 22-65. The Badgers lead the nation on the penalty kill and are second in the nation on power-play goals.
-Wisconsin is 49-52 on the penalty kill at 94.2 percent. Jasmine Giles and Erika Lawler each recorded short-handed goals this season.
FRESH TALENT
-The freshmen have proved valuable as they have made multiple contributions in every game. Between the three freshmen they have scored 32 points. Brooke Ammerman (17) leads the pack followed by Brittany Haverstock (9) and Carolyne Prevost (8).
-Ammerman has been on a roll since her second collegiate game, when she scored at least one goal in seven consecutive games. The streak was snapped against Minnesota, but started another streak scoring in both games against Minnesota Duluth. Ammerman is one of three Badgers who had a seven-game goal streak.
-Ammerman ranks second on the team in points and goals (12-5=17). She is second in the nation and first in the WCHA for points per game for rookies averaging 1.42. She is also tied for fifth in power-play goals (4) and goals per game (1.00).
SPREAD THE WEALTH
-After 12 games, Wisconsin has tallied 161 points and has out-scored opponents 59-12.
-Wisconsin proved its depth with the season opener against Quinnipiac with 11 different Badgers scoring thirty points. Through 12 games 17 different Badgers earned points, 10 in double digits and 12 have scored goals.
-Hilary Knight (13-6=19) leads the team in scoring even after missing two games. Between Knight and Ammerman they have scored 25 goals, combining for 42 percent of Wisconsin's goals.
-Erika Lawler and Meghan Duggan continue to move up on the career points list. Lawler is tied in the sixth spot with 124 total points, while Duggan is in ninth with 107.
-The offense has been explosive out-shooting opponents 451-246. The Badgers have been dominant in controlling the puck so far this season.
DEFENSE REMAINS STRONG
-The Badger defense is ranked second in the nation in scoring defense. They have limited opponents to an average of one goal per game and 12 for the season. The Badgers also have six shutouts on the season.
-The Badger scoring defense is led by senior Alycia Matthews who has tallied 10 assists and one goal. Matthews leads the WCHA for points per game for a defenseman averaging 0.92 through all games.
VETTER PROVES TOUGH
-Goaltender Jessie Vetter has had four shutouts for the season with 216 saves only allowing nine goals on the season.
-The four goals Vetter allowed in the game against Ohio State was the most goals she has ever allowed in a regular season game.
-Vetter is ranked No. 2 in the nation with a 0.86 GAA, save percentage (.960) and fifth in winning percentage.
-Vetter looks to reach her fourth-straight national championship game. Vetter is 8-1-0 in NCAA tournament contests, owns two national championships and holds school records for most career shutouts (29) and shutouts in a season (10). Vetter also claimed the 2007-08 WCHA goaltending champion while also becoming the WCHA leader in career shutouts.
LEADING THE WCHA
-Wisconsin remains in first in the WCHA standings with 15 points, one point ahead of Minnesota. The Badgers lead the conference in nearly every category.
-Wisconsin leads the conference in scoring offense, scoring defense, power play, penalty kill, special teams net, scoring by periods and goals allowed by periods.
CLOSING IN ON 200
-Head Coach Mark Johnson is nearing his 200th win. Johnson is only 14 wins away from 200 wins in his coaching career at Wisconsin.
WCHA SHOOTOUT
-The Western Collegiate Hockey Association has become the first NCAA Division 1 women 's conference to officially re-introduce the shootout to college hockey.
-A National Hockey League-style three-player shootout will be used to determine a winner for all WCHA regular season games still tied after regulation and the standard five-minute (5:00) overtime.
-The NCAA Rules and Ice Hockey Committees have allowed conferences the ability to implement this tie-breaking protocol so that every regular season league game will have a winner while preserving the integrity of the national rankings. Regular season games decided by a shootout will still be considered ties for NCAA purposes so there will be no effect on NCAA records for the purposes of the Pairwise and determining the national tournament field. Bonus points awarded will impact conference standings only.
