After winning the WCHA regular season crown on Sunday, the No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team wraps up the regular season with a matchup against No. 4 Minnesota in Minneapolis. Faceoff on both Saturday and Sunday is set for 3 p.m. at Ridder Arena.
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UW won its sixth WCHA regular season title as UW has 70 points. Wisconsin will meet Minnesota State, the eighth-place team in the league, in a first-round WCHA playoff series at LaBahn Arena Feb. 24-26.Â
About the Badgers
The Badgers head into the Border Battle this weekend on a 14-game unbeaten-streak, which is the longest active unbeaten stretch in the nation. UW has outscored its opponents 71-11 during the stretch.
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The Badgers boast the nation's top-ranked offense and defense so far this season. UW is averaging 4.16 goals per game and has allowed only 29 goals in its 30 games this year for an average of 0.94 goals per game.
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Senior Ann-Renee Desbiens leads NCAA goaltenders in goals-against average with a 0.76 clip, winning percentage with a mark of .923, save percentage with a .957 clip and shutouts with 12. Desbiens now has 93 career wins and only needs seven more to match Alex Rigsby's program record.Â
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Junior
Annie Pankowski has been on a tear during the Badgers' unbeaten run with 30 points during the span thanks to 14 goals and 16 assists. Pankowski ranks sixth in the country in scoring, averaging 1.56 points per game.
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Junior
Emily Clark has proved to be clutch for UW as seven of Clark's 15 goals this season have been game-winners as she's tied for the NCAA lead in game-winning goals.
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Senior
Sarah Nurse ranks second on the Badgers with 18 goals and 38 points. Nurse's 20 assists this year are a career high.
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Junior
Baylee Wellhausen ranks fourth on UW this year with 14 goals this season. She's nearly doubled her goal output this season after scoring 16 in her first two years at Wisconsin.Â
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Number of the Week
50 – Ann-Renee Desbiens enters the weekend with 50 career shutouts, passing Noora Raty for the most in NCAA history. Desbiens earned the record-breaking shutout on November 6
th, when the Badgers blanked Bemidji State, 6-0.
About Minnesota
The No. 4 Gophers sit second in WCHA standings, going 19-4-3 in conference play with a 23-5-3 overall ledger.
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Minnesota is coming off a sweep of North Dakota, where the Gophers dispatched the Fighting Hawks, 4-2 and 6-2, respectively.
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Senior Kelly Pannek leads the Gophers with 56 points from 17 goals and 39 assists.
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Sidney Peters steps into the crease for the Gophers, as the junior has started 29 games for a record of 22-5-2 and a .906 save percentage.Â
The series against Minnesota
This weekend's series marks the 88th and 89th times the Badgers and Gophers have met.
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The Badgers trail in the all-time series with the Gophers, 30-48-9.
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Wisconsin suffered its second loss of the season against Minnesota in December before dismantling the Gophers, 8-2, the following day to split the series.
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UW holds a 17-21-4 record against Minnesota on the road.
Badgers sweep WCHA weekly honors
A trio of Badgers received weekly awards from the WCHA on Tuesday.
Junior Baylee Wellhausen was named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week, senior Ann-Renee Desbiens was named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week and freshman Abby Roque was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week for the second-consecutive week.
Wellhausen recorded her first career hat trick in UW's 8-0 win over UMD on Sunday afternoon, becoming the fourth Badger to tally three goals in a game this year. Wellhausen scored a goal in the first period to give the Badgers a 2-0 lead over UMD after 20 minutes, then followed up with more by scoring twice in a four-minute span in the second period.
The three goals over the weekend by Wellhausen were tied for the NCAA lead and she was one of two players in the country to record a hat trick during the week.
Desbiens was stellar once against in net for the top-ranked Badgers, as she held Minnesota Duluth to just one goal over the weekend. Desbiens stopped 21 of the 22 shots she faced in UW's 1-1 tie with UMD on Saturday and helped UW win the 12-round shootout. Desbiens earned her NCAA-leading 12th shutout on Sunday in UW's 8-0 triumph, which marked her 50th career blank slate.
On the season, Desbiens leads the NCAA in wins (23), shutouts (12), save percentage (.957) and goals-against average (0.76).
The reigning WCHA Rookie of the Week, Roque had another great weekend for UW tallying four points, which not only led all WCHA rookies but was tied for the league-best mark among all skaters. After recording an assist in UW's 1-1 tie with UMD, Roque recorded three points off one goal and two assists in UW's 8-0 triumph. Roque tallied the game-winning goal on a power play in the first period to kickstart the Badger offense.
Roque also recorded a .655 faceoff percentage, which ranked fourth in the league among players that took at least 15 draws during the weekend.
Powering Up
One of the key's to UW's recent success has been the improved power play, as UW now ranks third in the NCAA with a .202 clip.
Prior to UW's winning streak that started on Dec. 4, UW's power play was operating at a .123 clip (8-of-65). Since Dec. 4, UW has converted on 15 of its 44 power-play opportunities for a .341 clip, which paces the NCAA during the span.Â
Since Jan. 1, UW's power play leads the NCAA with a .405 conversion rate, converting 15 of its 37 opportunities with a man advantage.Â
Wisconsin has also tallied at least one power-play goal in 10 of its 11 games in 2017
UW is 17-0-0 this season when scoring at least one power play goal.Â
10 different Badgers have at least one power-play goal this year, as
Abby Roque has four of her seven goals this year with a player advantage.Â
Hitting the Mark:
Wisconsin head coach
Mark Johnson became the first coach in WCHA history to record 400 career wins in the Badgers sweep of Clarkson. Johnson is only the third coach in NCAA Division I women's hockey history to collect 400 career triumphs.
