No. 3 Badgers head east to Ohio State
February 12, 2015 | Women's Hockey
Feb. 12, 2015
MADISON, Wis. -- For the final time this regular season, the No. 3 Badgers will hit the road to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State this weekend at the OSU Ice Rink.
The Badgers and Buckeyes meet on Friday in a 5 p.m. (CT) contest, while the two teams wrap up their series on Saturday with a 3 p.m. (CT) tilt.Â
Wisconsin enters the weekend riding a seven-game unbeaten streak, which has been in part to tremendous defense. The Badgers have given up only three goals in their past seven contests and now are tied for the nation's lead in scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 1.07 goals per contest.Â
| No. 3 Wisconsin (22-4-4) at Ohio State (16-11-3) | |
| Â Date | Friday, Feb. 13 | 5:07 p.m. (CT) Saturday, Feb. 14 | 3:07 p.m. (CT) |
|  Location | Columbus, Ohio | OSU Ice Rink |
|  Video | BTN Plus ($) Friday   |  Saturday |
| Â Radio | Scarlet and Gray Sports Radio |
|  Live Coverage |  Friday Stats |  Saturday Stats |  Gameday Blog |  Twitter |
|  Notes |  Wisconsin   |  Ohio State |
"We have our defensive pairings straight now," sophomore defenseman Jenny Ryan said. "We have been playing together for a while, and we are focusing on playing tight defense. We are talking a lot, Ann-Renée (Desbeins) is talking a lot to us and we're doing the little things right."
Desbiens has been huge between the pipes for the Badgers, as she has four shutouts during UW's unbeaten streak and a save percentage of .975.Â
On the season, Desbiens, the reigning WCHA Defensive Player of the Week has 11 shutouts, including two during Wisconsin's sweep of Ohio State in Madison back in October. The Badgers handled the Buckeyes during the first game of the series, blanking OSU 6-0 before earning a 3-0 shutout in the series finale.Â
Four months have passed since the initial series between the Badgers and Buckeyes, and Wisconsin knows that both teams have grown since their first meeting.
"I think we've grown in all areas on the ice and as a team," sophomore forward Sydney McKibbon said. "I think with Ann-Renee in net, we've been playing really well defensively. She's wrapped up a lot of shutouts this year, but also offensively, we had a little bit of a dry spell there for a bit. We had a hard time putting the puck in the net, but as of lately we've been putting the puck in and last weekend we got five goals.
"Every team in our conference has gradually gotten stronger and stronger," senior assistant captain Karley Sylvester said. "We haven't seen them since the beginning of the season and we can't take them lightly, and definitely need to come out and play our game."
Both teams have plenty on the line during their second-to-last regular season series. Wisconsin, with 55 points in the WCHA standings, locked up a top-two league finish last Saturday against UMD, but are still within striking distance of league-leading Minnesota, as the Gophers have 60 points. Â
Ohio State is in fifth in the league standings with 37 points, but have a chance to move up as No. 6 Minnesota Duluth sits in third with 42 points and No. 8 North Dakota is in fourth with 41 points. With the top-four teams in the league earning home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, the Badgers know the Buckeyes will be playing with a purpose this weekend.Â
"I think they're going to come out to play," McKibbon said. "Nothing is decided yet for their playoff fate as they could host in the first round or go on the road. I think they're going to come out hard as they definitely want these six points, as do we, so I think it's going to be a hard, chippy series."
