The No. 2/3 Wisconsin women's hockey team heads back home to take on the No. 6Bemidji State Beavers. Faceoff on Friday is set for 7 p.m. and Saturday is set for 3 p.m. at LaBahn Arena.
Key notes to consider
For the second-straight season, the Badgers are off to a 6-0 start after the Badgers' earned a sweep at St. Cloud State last weekend.
Sophomore Annie Pankowski leads the team in scoring, averaging 2.17 points per contest. She also leads the country in short-handed goals with three. Pankowskileads the team with eight goals and five assists for 13 points this season. The sophomore has a nine-game point streak dating back to last year's WCHA Final Face-Off championship game.
Junior Sarah Nurse became the fourth Badger to score multiple shorthanded goals in a game when she notched two in UW's 5-0 win over SCSU. She joins Annie Pankowski, Blayre Turnbull, and Michelle Sikich.
The Badgers rank second in the country in penalty killing this year with a .955 clip. UW has killed 21 of its 22 penalties, and has scored five short-handed goals in only six games.
Ann-Renée Desbiens is tied for the nation's lead in shutouts with three this season, while her 0.43 goals-against average also is tied for the nation's lead.
Junior Jenny Ryan is tied for second in the country in scoring among defense, averaging 1.33 points per contest.
Wisconsin has shutout its past four WCHA opponents, marking the only the second time in UW history the teams has accomplished the feat. UW posted five-straight shutouts against WCHA foes during the 2006-07 season.
Number of the week5 -Wisconsin leads the nationinshorthanded goals with five. Sophomore
Annie Pankowski hold a nation-leading three shorthanded tallies,followed up by junior
Sarah Nurse with two. The other 34 teams in the country have scored a combined nineshort-handed goals this season.
Note of the WeekWisconsin goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens now has 20shutouts in her career, which ranks third in program history. Only UW legends Jessie Vetter (39) and Alex Rigsby (30) had more blank slates during their collegiate careers.The Series vs. Bemidji StateThe Badgers lead the overall series against the Beavers 59-5-3.At home, UW holds a 24-3-1 record against BSU.In 67 meetings, the Cardinal and White have outscored the Bemidji State, 288-80.
Wisconsin went 4-1-0 against the Beavers last year, their one loss coming on Jan. 16, 2015 at home. UW outscored BSU 13-7 in their five meetings last year.About Bemidji StateThe Beaversfinished the 2014-2015 season with a 21-17-1 overall record, placingfifth in the WCHA standings with a13-14-1 conference record.
Junior Kaitlyn Tougas's 27 points on 13 goal and 14 assistsled BSU last season, whilefellow junior Stephanie Anderson led the team in goals with 14, along with an additional 10 assists for 24 points.
In the 2014-15 season, the Beavers outscored their opponents 86-70, with a 2.2 goals-per-game average.
In the team's eight games this season, junior Lauren Miller and senior captain Hanna Moher lead the team with seven points each.
BSU junior goaltender Brittni Mowat received her second-consecutive WCHA Defensive Player of the Week nod, stopping 56 of 57 shots against North Dakota. Mowat leads the nation with a .978 save percentage, and is tied at first-place with Wisconsin netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens for shutouts with three.
Home Sweet HomeAt LaBahn Arena, the Badgers are tough to beat, as UW is 45-10-3 (.815) at the new barn.The Badgers have outscored their opponents 185-60 at LaBahn Arena, and have posted 19 shutouts.
UW holds a 3-2-1 record all-time against Bemidji State at Labahn Arena.
Clark, Nurse selected to Team Canada's Four Nations Cup RosterWisconsin women's hockey players Emily Clarka nd Sarah Nurse have been selected to the Canadian National Women's Team that will defend Canada's gold medal at the 2015 Four Nations Cup, the team announced Tuesday.
The 22-player roster was chosen following the Canadian National Women's Team Fall Festival, a week-long camp held in Calgary this September.
Clark, a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native, is familiar with Canada's national program, as the sophomore won gold at both the 2012 and 2013 U-18 IIHF World Championships, as well as winning a silver medal with Team Canada in the 2015 IIHF World Championships. In addition, Clark helped Canada to a gold medal at the 2014 Four Nations Cup.
During her rookie season for the Badgers, Clark tallied 27 points and was named to the All-WCHA Rookie Team. This season, she has collected five goals and three assists in four games, and was named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week for her performance against Ohio State.
For Nurse, a junior from Hamilton, Ontario, this Four Nations Cup will be her first time skating with the Canadian senior team. In 2011, Nurse skated at the IIHF High Performance Hockey Camp with Team Canada, as well as winning a gold medal with Team Ontario Red in the Canadian National Championship. Nurse also participated with the Canadian National Development Team, winning gold at the 2015 Nations Cup.
Last season, Nurse led the Badgers to their fifth WCHA Playoff Championship as she tallied four goals and two assists during the finals to earn WCHA Final Face-Off most outstanding player accolades. In four games this season, she has already notched eight points on four goals and four assists.
The 2015 Four Nations Cup will run Nov. 4-8 in Sundsvall, Sweden. The tournament, featuring Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States, will also serve as an evaluation as Team Canada coaches look to fill the roster for the 2016 IIHF Women's World Championships and, in the long run, the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Canada will open the tournament against Finland on Nov. 4, and face the United States on Nov. 5 in preliminary action. Last time vs. Bemidji State: Wisconsin 4, Bemidji State 0 (March 8, 2015)
UW sophomore Sarah Nurse scored a pair of goals in the first period as the No. 2 Badgers blanked No. 10 Bemidji State to claim the program's fifth WCHA playoff title.
Nurse ended the tournament as the WCHA Final Face-Off Most Outstanding Player, scoring four goals while adding two assists during the weekend. Nurse, along with fellow sophomores Sydney McKibbon, Mellissa Channell, and goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens, was named to the WCHA Final Face-Off All-Tournament team.
Nurse put the Badgers on the board midway through the first with a beautiful goal that beat Bemidji State's goaltender Brittni Mowat top-shelf. That team-leading fifth game-winning goal was not the end to Nurse's scoring for the day.
Six minutes later, Nurse put away defenseman Kim Drake's initial shot that bounced off the end-boards to the front of the net, marking Nurse's 15th goal of the year.
Senior Karley Sylvester added an insurance goal of her own with two seconds remaining in the second period, slamming home her own rebound between Mowat's pads. Fellow senior Katarina Zgraja lit the lamp four minutes into the third period with an assist from Nurse to out away the championship game.
Sophomore netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens turned aside all 15 shots the Beavers took at her, earning her 14th shutout on the year, tying the Wisconsin record set by Jessie Vetter in 2008-09.
With the win, the Badgers captured their first WCHA Final Face-Offtitle since 2011, winning the tournament in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2011. The win also guaranteed UW the WCHA bid to the 2015 NCAA tournament.
Last Time Out: Wisconsin 2, St. Cloud State 0 (Oct. 17, 2015)
Thanks to senior netminderMegan Miller's first shutout as a Badger, the No. 2 Wisconsin women's hockey team recorded its fourth-straight shutout with a 2-0 win against St. Cloud State on Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.
Miller, who spent two years at Boston College before transferring to Wisconsin last season, stopped all 14 shots she faced to lead the Badgers (6-0-0, 4-0-0-0 WCHA) to their third-straight sweep of the season.
After a scoreless first period,Erika Sowchukscored her first goal of the year off a feed from captain Courtney Burketwo minutes into the second frame to give Wisconsin a 1-0 lead.
In the third period with St. Cloud State (2-4-0, 0-4-0-0 WCHA) goaltender Katie Fitzgerald pulled, sophomoreAnnie Pankowskiscored her eighth goal of the season with 21 seconds remaining. Burke and junior defensemanJenny Ryanassisted Pankowski's empty-net goal that put the game out of reach.
Wisconsin has not allowed a goal since the first period of the Badgers' 8-1 win over Providence on Oct. 3, a stretch of 281 minutes, 45 seconds.
