Photo by: David Stluka
At long last, No. 1 Badgers are back at home
November 19, 2015 | Women's Hockey
Wisconsin begins a six-game homestand this weekend with Lindenwood
For the first time in almost a month, the top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team will play on its home ice as the Badgers host Lindenwood in a Friday-Sunday non-conference series at LaBahn Arena.
The Badgers are coming off a sweep of WCHA rival Minnesota Duluth on the shores of Lake Superior last weekend. Wisconsin blanked UMD, 3-0, on Friday before tallying a 4-2 triumph in the series finale on Saturday. Annie Pankowski and Jenny Ryan each recorded four points in the series for UW.
"I'm certainly pleased with the overall effort both Friday and Saturday afternoon up in Duluth," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "I thought the team came out and, after having a weekend off, came out and had good energy and established a solid pace."
Goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens held UW's opponents scoreless for 543:53 of that time, almost 100 minutes longer than the previous NCAA record of 448:32 established by UW legend Jessie Vetter during the 2006-07 season.
"That's not something that I planned at the beginning of the year," Desbiens said. "I just take the games one at a time. I think what we did is amazing, but it's also nice because now people will talk more about our team instead of the streak."
"I think after the game there was probably a little bit of a relief," Johnson said. "Now it's happened, now it's over with, and we move forward on how we improve."
After playing four of its first six series away from Madison, the Badgers start a six-game homestand when the Lions come to town this weekend.
"It's always exciting whenever you get to play at LaBahn Arena because of the atmosphere and the amazing fans we have," junior assistant captain Sydney McKibbon said. "As a team, we always look forward to playing at home in our own rink."
Lindenwood enters the weekend with a 3-7-2 record and is led by first-team All-CHA goaltender Nicole Hensley, who played with Ryan, Pankowski and UW captain Courtney Burke on the USA Under-22 team this summer.
"They are a hardworking team," McKibbon said. "They never give up, regardless of the score. I think they are going to give us a tough game, so we have to be prepared at the puck drop on Friday afternoon and play a complete 60 minutes both days against them."
The Badgers will continue their homestand by hosting Dartmouth Nov. 27-28 before taking on Border Battle rival Minnesota Dec. 4-5.
The Badgers are coming off a sweep of WCHA rival Minnesota Duluth on the shores of Lake Superior last weekend. Wisconsin blanked UMD, 3-0, on Friday before tallying a 4-2 triumph in the series finale on Saturday. Annie Pankowski and Jenny Ryan each recorded four points in the series for UW.
"I'm certainly pleased with the overall effort both Friday and Saturday afternoon up in Duluth," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "I thought the team came out and, after having a weekend off, came out and had good energy and established a solid pace."
Wisconsin, off to a 12-0-0 start, its best in program history, saw its NCAA-record shutout streak draw to a close with a third-period goal by the Bulldogs on Saturday. The Badgers went 624 minutes, 18 seconds without giving up a goal, a streak that dated back to a power-play score by Providence on Oct. 3.
The score broke the Badgers' string of nine consecutive shutouts, a run that improved the previous NCAA record by three games.Goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens held UW's opponents scoreless for 543:53 of that time, almost 100 minutes longer than the previous NCAA record of 448:32 established by UW legend Jessie Vetter during the 2006-07 season.
"That's not something that I planned at the beginning of the year," Desbiens said. "I just take the games one at a time. I think what we did is amazing, but it's also nice because now people will talk more about our team instead of the streak."
"I think after the game there was probably a little bit of a relief," Johnson said. "Now it's happened, now it's over with, and we move forward on how we improve."
After playing four of its first six series away from Madison, the Badgers start a six-game homestand when the Lions come to town this weekend.
"It's always exciting whenever you get to play at LaBahn Arena because of the atmosphere and the amazing fans we have," junior assistant captain Sydney McKibbon said. "As a team, we always look forward to playing at home in our own rink."
Lindenwood enters the weekend with a 3-7-2 record and is led by first-team All-CHA goaltender Nicole Hensley, who played with Ryan, Pankowski and UW captain Courtney Burke on the USA Under-22 team this summer.
"They are a hardworking team," McKibbon said. "They never give up, regardless of the score. I think they are going to give us a tough game, so we have to be prepared at the puck drop on Friday afternoon and play a complete 60 minutes both days against them."
The Badgers will continue their homestand by hosting Dartmouth Nov. 27-28 before taking on Border Battle rival Minnesota Dec. 4-5.
Players Mentioned
Defense
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Forward
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Defense
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