The No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team, off to its best start in program history, returns home to take onnon-conference foe Dartmouth in a Friday/Saturdayseries at LaBahn Arena. Friday's contest begins at 7p.m., while Saturday's game begins at 3 p.m.
Key notes to consider
The Badgers' 14-game winning streak is tied for thethird-longest streak in program history and the sixth-longestin WCHA history.
Wisconsin leads the country in scoring defense, holdingopponents to 0.36 goals per contest. The Cardinaland White have shutout its opponents in 10 of its 14games this year.
Sophomore Annie Pankowski ranks seventh in thenation in scoring, averaging 1.86 points per contest.The Laguna Hills, California, native also hasa 17-game point streak heading into this weekend'sseries, which isthe sixth-longest in program history.
Junior Ann-Renée Desbiens enters the weekend witha perfect 12-0-0 record. Her eight shutouts this seasonlead the NCAA and her 25 career blank slates are tiedfor the sixth-most in NCAA history.She is also one win away from becoming the fourth goaltender in UW history to win 50 games while donning the Cardinal and White.
UW sits on top of the WCHA standings with 30 points through its first 10 games of theleague slate. The Badgers are also one of two teams that are still undefeated in the country,along with Boston College.
Junior Jenny Ryan leads the country's defensemen in points, averaging 1.36 points per contest,while senior Courtney Burke is second, averaging 1.21 points per contest.The Badgers blueliners lead the NCAA in scoring, averaging 4.43 points per game.
Burke's90 career points are the fourth-most in program history among defensemen. Sheis nine points away from moving into 20th on the school's all-time scoring list and 10 points away from becoming the third blue-liner in school history to reach 100 career points.
Number of the week2,212-The No. 1-ranked Badgers carry a 41-game unbeaten streak against non-conference opponents into this weekend's series with Lindenwood at LaBahn Arena. UW hasn't lost a game to an opponent outside the WCHA since Nov. 6, 2009 -- a span that will reach 2,212days by the time the puck drops Friday.
Home, Sweet Home
At LaBahn Arena, the Badgers are tough to beat, as UW is 49-11-3 (.819) at the new barn.The Badgers have outscored their opponents 194-61at LaBahn Arena, and have posted 22shutouts.
In sixhome games this year, the Badgers have outscored their opposition 31-1at LaBahn Arena.
The Series vs. Dartmouth The Badgers trail the all-time series with Dartmouth, as the Big Green have taken three of the five matchups.
Wisconsin has won the past two, defeating Dartmouth 4-3 on Nov. 26, 2005 before earning a 7-0 win at the Kohl Center on March 14, 2009 in the NCAA quarterfinals. The Badgers went on to win their third NCAA title later that season.
Dartmouth is a member of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference, which consists of Brown, Clarkson, Colgate, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Quinnipiac, Rensselaer Polytechnic (RPI), St. Lawrence, Union and Yale.
The Badgers are 25-7-2 all-time against the ECAC, with the last matchup against a team from the conference coming last year when the Badgers hosted Clarkson.
Dartmouth is one of three teams that UW trails in the all-time series along with Brown (0-2-0) and Minnesota (26-44-9).
Last time vs. Dartmouth: Wisconsin 7, Dartmouth0(March. 14, 2009)
Wisconsin women's hockey team shut out Dartmouth 7-0 in the NCAA quarterfinals in front of a season-high crowd of 3,023at the Kohl Center to secure a berth in the 2009 NCAA Frozen Four.
Senior forward Angie Keseley led the Badger attack with a hat trick and two assists while sophomore winger Hilary Knight notched two goals and four assists. Senior goalie Jessie Vetter recorded her 13th shutout of the season.
Scoring two goals in the first period, Wisconsin came onto the ice ready to play. Just four minutes into the game, Keseley took advantage on the power play, firing a shot past Dartmouth goaltender Carli Clemis from the near-side corner of the crease. Kesley 's shot ricocheted off Clemis' blocker and into the back of the net. Erika Lawler and Knight notched the assists on the goal.
The Badgers' second goal came 11:25 into the first when Lawler redirected a slap shot from Knight at the far-side corner of the crease.
Wisconsin excelled on both ends of the ice in the second period. Scoring the Badgers' third goal, Knight zipped a powerful slap shot past Clemis 9:36 into the period. Scoring from the point, Knight was assisted by Keseley and Anne Dronen.
Knight continued the Badger scoring on a Dartmouth power play. Taking control of the puck in UW's defensive zone, Knight skated the puck down the sheet, pulled some quick stick-handling moves and snuck it by Clemis at the near-corner crease. Putting the Badgers up 4-0, the short-handed goal was unassisted.
Keseley scored her second goal, and the Badgers' fifth of the afternoon, four minutes later on the power play. Meghan Duggan and Knight assisted Keseley's goal from the far circle.
Defensively, the Badgers stopped a couple close calls. Eight minutes into the period, Vetter saved a slap shot attempt by Darthmouth's Marley McMillan reaching up to catch the shot before it went into the high corner of the net. About ten minutes later Alycia Matthews stopped a Dartmouth 2-on-1 poke-checking the puck away at the last second.
Capitalizing off a Knight rebound, Keseley secured her first hat trick of the season, and second of her career, scoring from the near-corner of the crease with four minutes left in the game. Lawler notched the secondary assist on the Badgers' sixth goal of the game. With just one minute left in the game, Brooke Ammerman put in the Badgers final goal from the top of the crease to seal the Badgers' 7-0 victory.
Overall, Vetter made 32 saves and Clemis made 21.
Vetter's increased her NCAA career shutout record to 38, while Knight notched a career-high six-point game. Keseley matched her career-high with five points.
Last Time Out: Wisconsin4, Lindenwood 0 (Nov. 22, 2015)
Thanks to a pair of goals by junior Sarah Nurse, the No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey continued its historic start on Sunday, blanking Lindenwood, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon at LaBahn Arena.
The Badgers' 14-0-0 start marks the third time UW has been unbeaten through its first 14 games, and the first time Wisconsin has won its first 14 contests. The 14-game winning streak is tied for the third-longest in program history and is tied for the sixth-longest in WCHA history.
Wisconsin was firing on all cylinders, with seven different Badgers collecting points and contributing to the shutout effort.
Senior Megan Miller earned her third start in goal at UW and her first-ever home start, stopping all 11 shots she faced to improve to 2-0-0 this season. It marked her second shutout of the year and the Badgers' 10th blank slate.
Nurse lit the lamp twice for the Badgers, while sophomore Emily Clark and freshman Sophia Shaver also scored.
Senior captain Courtney Burke and junior alternate captain Sydney McKibbon each added two assists, while Annie Pankowski assisted on UW's first goal to bring her point streak to 17 games, the sixth-longest in program history.
Clark put UW on the board six minutes into the game after she picked up her own rebound and rifled it over Lindenwood goaltender Jolene deBruyn's shoulder. Clark was assisted by defenseman and alternate captain Jenny Ryan, who leads the team in assists with 17, and Pankowski.
The Cardinal and White outshot Lindenwood 21-6 in the first frame.
Dominating puck possession throughout the game, UW continued its offensive efforts in the second as Nurse put one past deBruyn seven minutes into the period after her shot from the boards was deflected in off an LU defenseman's skate.
Shaver continued her multi-point weekend, scoring the Badgers' third goal of the game and her second of the series. Burke took a shot from the point, Shaver jumped on the rebound and stuffed the puck in the net, tallying the fifth goal of her career.
Up 3-0 after two and outshooting the Lions 41-9, it was Nurse again who recorded the final goal of the game. Similar to the previous goal, Burke shot the puck from the point and Nurse recovered the rebound, scoring her second of the game and her ninth of the season.
The Badgers finished the game with 58 shots on net, while limiting Lindenwood to 11 on goal.
Note of the Week
Wisconsin goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens's25 career shutoutsnot onlyrankthird in program history,but the junior goaltender is also tiedfor sixth inNCAA history in shutouts heading into this weekend.
The Quest for 400
Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson enters this weekend with a 374-70-34 record in his 13 years on the UW bench. His 374wins are the fourth-most in NCAA Division I women's hockey history.
The other three coaches to reach 350 wins at the NCAA Division I level are Katey Stone (Harvard), Michael Sisti (Mercyhurst) and Shannon Miller (Minnesota Duluth).
Johnson only needs 12wins to pass former UMD bench boss Shannon Miller for third on the all-time list.
