Coming up
The No. 3 Wisconsin women's hockey team, coming off of its eighth NCAA Frozen Four appearance, opens the 2015-16 season at Sharks Ice in San Jose, California against Providence College.
The Badgers and Friars meet on Friday in a 9 p.m. (CT) contest before concluding their non-conference series on Saturday at 5 p.m. Single-game tickets are available for $12 and can be purchased on TicketMaster.Com.
Key notes to consider
• The Badgers are 12-3-1 in their previous 16 season opening games, as UW began the 2014-15 season with a 5-1 win on the road at Lindenwood. The Cardinal and White are undefeated in its last five season openers (4-0-1)
• Wisconsin is also 12-3-1 in its road-opening games and is undefeated in its past five road-openers (4-0-1)
• The Badgers lead the series against the Friars 4-1-1 with the last meeting coming on Nov. 28, 2009 in Providence.
• UW returns 19 letterwinners from last year's WCHA Final Face-Off champion team including 2014-15 USCHO.com Rookie of the Year Annie Pankowski along with third-team All-WCHA selections Courtney Burke and Ann-Renee Desbiens.
• Six Badgers suited up in the U.S. / Canada Under-22 series in August, as juniors Mellissa Channell, Sarah Nurse, and sophomore Emily Clark played for Canada, while senior Courtney Burke, junior Jenny Ryan and sophomore Annie Pankowski represented the United States.
• Three current Badgers played in the IIHF World Championships as sophomore Annie Pankowski led the United States to the gold medal as the U.S. defeated junior Ann-Renee Desbiens, sophomore Emily Clark and Team Canada, 7-5, in the gold medal contest. Pankowski tallied a goal in the gold-medal game, Clark had a goal and an assist in the tournament and Desbiens pitched two shutouts for Team Canada in the five-game tournament.
Number of the week
360 - Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson enters this weekend's series with 360 wins, the fourth-most in NCAA women's hockey history. Johnson needs 26 wins to pass former Minnesota Duluth bench boss Shannon Miller for third on the all-time list.
The series against Providence
• The Badgers lead the overall series against the Friars 4-1-1.
• UW is undefeated against Providence in the last four meetings with the Badgers'. only loss to the Friars coming in 2002.
• The Badgers are unbeaten at home against Providence, winning both contests at the Kohl Center in 2007. Wisconsin shut Providence out of both games.
• In UW's six meetings with the Friars, the Cardinal and White have outscored Providence 17-6.
• Against opponents from Hockey East, UW is 35-8-4 and has won its past 14 games against HEA schools. UW's last loss to a Hockey East school came in Nov. 18, 2007 against New Hampshire
Wisconsin-Providence-San Jose connection
This weekend's series with Providence is a homecoming of sorts for UW senior Molly Doner, who played for the San Jose Jr. Sharks at the U-19 level. The Jr. Sharks play their home games at Sharks Ice in San Jose, the location of this weekend's series.
• Doner, a native of Mukilteo, Washington, played two seasons for the Sharks and was named MVP of the Pacific District Tournament en route to the district championship in 2010-11 with the Jr. Sharks.
• One of Doner's teammates for the San Jose Jr. Sharks was Providence captain and senior defenseman Lexi Romanchuk.
• Both Doner and Romanchuk's fathers played for the Badgers, as Lexi Doner suited up for UW from 1980-1984 while Rod Romanchuk played for UW from 1975-79 with current UW women's hockey head coach Mark Johnson.
• Against opponents from Hockey East, UW is 35-8-4 and has won its past 14 games against HEA schools. UW's last loss to a Hockey East school came in Nov. 18, 2007 against New Hampshire.
Last time vs, Providence: Wisconsin 4, Providence 1 (Nov. 28, 2009)
The Wisconsin women's hockey team closed out its non-conference schedule with a 4-1 win over Providence College. The Badgers, who out-shot the Friars 40-10, scored three unanswered goals in the final three minutes of regulation to come away with the victory.
Wisconsin owned the first period, out-shooting the Friars 16-0. UW got the first tally when Brianna Decker picked the puck up at the blue line and drove towards the net, sniping it top shelf from the far side. Decker's fourth goal of the season was assited by juniors Kelly Nash and Anne Dronen.
In the second frame Wisconsin killed off a 5-on-3 Providence advantage that lasted 1:12, only allowing two shots on goal early in the period. Howeverm at the 17:17 mark, Laura Veharanta tied it up with a hard shot that UW's Alannah McCready grabbed initially but fell out of her glove and bounced into the net.
After a frustrating 41 scoreless minutes for UW, Wisconsin opened the flood gates with three consecutive goals late in the third period. Mallory Deluce broke the scoring drought at the 17:01 mark of the third period. From the side boards Sanders slipped the puck to Deluce who skated it up to the crease and stuffed it past the left side of PC's Genevieve Lacasse. Jasmine Giles was also credited with the assist.
Less that 30 seconds later, Decker scored her second goal of the night after sophomore Brooke Ammerman intercepted the puck from the slot and passed it to Decker who backhanded it in from the crease.
Deluce would finish the scoring for UW with an empty net goal in the final minute of play.
Badgers and Buckeyes to be featured on BTN
The Wisconsin women's hockey team will wrap up its first home series against Ohio State with a nationally-televised game on BTN
• After playing a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday, Oct. 10, the Badgers and Buckeyes will conclude their series on Sunday, Oct. 11 with a 2 p.m. tilt on BTN. The contest marks Wisconsin's first televised game of the season.
• The Badgers hold a 23-3-3 record against Buckeyes at home, including a perfect 6-0-0 record at LaBahn Arena. Wisconsin has also won 17 of its past 20 meetings with Ohio State.
Oh Captain, My Captains
• Senior Courtney Burke will serve as captain for the Wisconsin Women's hockey team during the 2015-16 season, while juniors Sydney McKibbon and Jenny Ryan will be assistant captains this season.
• Burke is the first defenceman to serve as the Badgers' captain since Emily Morris donned the "C" on her sweater during the 2007-08 season.
• A native of Albany, New York, Burke has been named program's Defensive Player is the Year in each of her three years at Wisconsin. Burke ranks sixth in school history in defenseman scoring with 73 points after tallying 24 points during her junior year. Her 0.06 points per game average ranked 20th nationally among defensemen.
• A native of Oakville, Ontario, McKibbon played in all 40 games for Wisconsin during the 2014-15 season, scoring 10 goals while adding 16 assists. Five of her 15 career goals are game winners, and the junior center ranked second in the conference last year with a .604 face-off win percentage.
• The 2015 NCAA Elite 89 winner for women's hockey, Ryan has played in all 40 games for UW last year, scoring three goals while adding 19 assists. Ryan, a native of Victor, New York, also had a +30 plus/minus rating for the Badgers last year.
Note of the Week
This weekend's series in San Jose marks the fourth time in program history UW has hosted neutral site games outside the NCAA women's hockey footprint. UW played in Lakewood, California, in 2004, Fort Meyers, Florida in 2008 and most recently played in Vail, Colorado in 2013.
Badgers picked second in WCHA
• The Wisconsin women's hockey team was picked to finish second in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association by the league's coaches, it was announced Sept. 15
• The Badgers collected 44 points and two first-place votes in the WCHA's Preseason Coaches' Poll, while Minnesota was picked to win the league, earning 48 points and six first-place votes.
• North Dakota was third with 35 points, while Bemidji State was close behind in fourth with 31 points. Rounding out the poll was Minnesota Duluth, Ohio State, St. Cloud State and Minnesota State.
• Wisconsin junior Sarah Nurse received a vote for the league's preseason player of the year, while freshmen Mikaela Gardner and Sophia Shaver each earned a vote for the WCHA Preseason Rookie of the Year.
About Providence
• The Friars finished the 2014-2015 season with a 6-25-4 overall record, placing eighth in the Hockey East standings with a 5-15-1 conference record.
• Junior Cassidy Carels recorded 21 points in 2014-1015 with 7 goals and 14 assists, while sophomore Brooke Boquist totaled 5 goals and 5 assists in her rookie season.
• PC captain Lexi Romanchuk is the daughter of Rod Romanchuk, who played hockey at Wisconsin and is a former teammate of current Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson.
• Last season, the Friars averaged 1.7 goals a game, while their opponents averaged 3.7 goals.
Six Badgers participate in U.S./Canada Under-22 series
• Six Wisconsin women's hockey student-athletes represented their countries in August as the United States and Canada under-22 squads met for a three-game series in Lake Placid, New York.
• Wisconsin women's hockey student-athletes Mellissa Channell, Emily Clark and Sarah Nurse played for the Canadian National Women's Development Team after a 10-day camp in Calgary, Alberta.
• Americans Courtney Burke, Annie Pankowski and Jenny Ryan were picked for the United States Under-22 Select Team following a six-day camp in Lake Placid.
• Wisconsin was the only school in the country to have at least three players on both rosters and the Badgers' six total players were the second-most of any NCAA school.
• The U.S. won the series, 2-1, over Canada.
