Badgers and Bulldogs Renew Rivalry
November 22, 2006 | Women's Hockey
It may still only be November, but this weekend's series between the No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team and No. 10 Minnesota Duluth may go a long way toward determining who will be celebrating a WCHA championship in late February.
The Badgers (13-0-1 overall, 11-0-1 WCHA) and Bulldogs (8-3-1, 8-3-1) represent the top two teams in the conference standings with UW entering the weekend boasting a six-point edge over UMD. The two teams will square off Nov. 24-25 at the Kohl Center with both games slated to start at 2:07 p.m.
Wisconsin continues to ride a program-record 26-game unbeaten streak (25-0-1) that stretches back to February 11. The only longer streak of games without a loss to be recorded by a UW team in any sport occurred over 90 years ago. The men's basketball team went 29 games between losses from Dec. 9, 1911 to March 7, 1913.
Fans who cannot attend the game can listen to it live on the radio. WIBA/Clear Channel will air its first of four UW women's hockey games this season on Saturday.
Men's hockey play-by-play announcer Brian Posick behind the microphone while former Badger and current undergraduate assistant Carla MacLeod will provide color commentary. Fans in the Madison area can hear the game live on 92.1 WXXM FM.
Wisconsin and Minnesota Duluth represent four of the six NCAA Division I Women 's Ice Hockey championships that have ever been awarded. While Minnesota immediately comes to mind as a traditional rival for UW teams, a good rivalry has developed between the Badgers and UMD.
'Any time you get two quality programs together, the bar gets set at a different place,' head coach Mark Johnson said. 'When you play against that competition, you just get excited, you get fired up.
'We've had some success against them and it just builds the base for what a rivalry is all about. We're going to play them at least four times a year and probably somewhere in the playoffs in important games, like they have been the last several years. Those are the perfect ingredients to start a good rivalry.'
While Wisconsin enters the series on an impressive streak, Minnesota Duluth comes to Madison with a streak of its own. After starting the season 8-0-0, UMD is winless in its last four games (0-3-1). In those first eight contests, the Bulldogs gave up just five goals while they have conceded 16 in their last four games.
The Badgers and Bulldogs will renew their rivalry Nov. 24-25 at the Kohl Center. Faceoff for each game is set for 2:07 p.m.
