July 24, 2015

MADISON, Wis. -- 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, head coach Mark Johnson announced Friday.

Burke is the first defenseman 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 of 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 0.60 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 and earned an invitation to the USA Hockey Winter Camp.

Burke, McKibbon, Ryan and the Badgers open the 2015-16 season with a non-conference series against Providence in San Jose, California, Oct. 2-3. Wisconsin opens its season at LaBahn Arena the following weekend against Ohio State, Oct. 9-11.  Season tickets for the 2015-16 season will be available on Monday, July 27 at 8:30 a.m. via UWBadgers.com.