Wisconsin women's hockey returns to conference play this weekend, traveling to No. 9 North Dakota to take on the Fighting Hawks. Puck drop on Saturday and Sunday are both scheduled for 2 p.m. (CT).
Sunday's game will be shown on Midco Sports Network and Fox Sports College Atlantic (Dish channel 460 and DirecTV channel 608-1).Â
Team Notes
After sweeping a top-10 opponent on the road last weekend, the No. 1 Badgers look to repeat the feat this weekend at No. 9 North Dakota.
Wisconsin looks to imporve on its 2-1-1 record agains the Fighting Hawks, as UW suffered its first loss of the 2015-16 season at UND before salvaging a tie in the series finale in Grand Forks.
UW head coach
Mark Johnson earned his 400th career victory on the Badger bench last Saturday, as UW dispatched Clarkson 4-1.
The Badgers boast the nation's top defense so far this season, as UW has allowed only six goals in its six games so far this year.
Player Notes
Annie Pankowski, a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-10 finalist in 2015-16, leads the offensive charge for UW after notching 22 goals and 36 assists for a team-leading 58 points last season. After assisting the first goal of the Badgers' 6-0 win over Mercyhurst, Pankowski became the 21st UW player to record 100 career points. Pankowski is just the fourth player in program history to reach 100 points as a sophomore, joining Brianna Decker, Meghan Hunter, and Hilary Knight.
Sophomore Sam Cogan is part of a trio of Badgers who lead the team in scoring so far. Cogan, Sydney McKibbon and Sarah Nurse all have six points. Cogan has her six points thanks to four goals and a pair of assists, while McKibbon and Nurse each have three goals and three assists.
Junior Emily Clark looks to build off a successful sophomore campaign, where she recorded 24 goals and 21 assists for 45 points. A member of the 2016 Final Face-off All-Tournament Team, Clark also earned All-WCHA Second Team and WCHA All-Academic Team honors.
Senior Sarah Nurse finished the 2015-16 season with a team-leading 25 goals and 13 assists for 38 points. Nurse led the team with 228 shots on goal, and was named to the All-WCHA Third Team.Â
Ann-Renée Desbiens, a 2015-16 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-three finalist, had a record-setting junior season, where she rewrote NCAA history after recording a goals-against average of 0.76, a save percentage of .960, and 21 shutouts. Desbiens was named the 2015-16 USCHO.com Player of the Year, as well as the WCHA Player of the Year. In addidtion to these accolades, Desbiens was recently named the 2016-17 WCHA Preseason Player of the Year.
So far this season, Desbiens ranks second in the NCAA in goals-against average with a 0.98 clip, while her pair of shutouts this year rank second. The La Malbaie, Quebec, native also sports a .917 winning percentage that ranks third nationally.
Senior Jenny Ryan will anchor the blueline for Wisconsin this season, ranking 10th all-time in scoring among UW defensemen. In 2015-16, Ryan tallied eight goals and 24 assists for 32 points.Â
Senior Sydney McKibbon will captain the Badgers this year, with Ann-Renée Desbiens, Sarah Nurse, and Jenny Ryan serving as alternates.
Number of the Week
40Â -
Ann-Renée Desbiens enters this weekend with 40 career shutouts, the second-most in NCAA history. Desbiens needs only three blank slates to match Noora Raty's NCAA record.
The Series vs. North Dakota
This weekend's series marks the 56th and 57th time the Badgers and Fighting Hawks will have met in program history.
The Badgers lead the all-time series with the Fighting Hawks, 45-7-3.
UND handed UW its first loss of the season last year in December, but the Badgers swept the Fighting Hawks when they met again in January.
Last time vs. North Dakota: No. 2 Wisconsin 3, No. 8 North Dakota 1 (Jan. 24, 2016)
MADISON, Wis.— In front of another sellout crowd at LaBahn Arena, the No. 2 ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team extended its home-winning streak to 18 games as the Badgers battled to a 3-1 victory over No. 8 North Dakota to complete the series sweep.
Sophomore Emily Clark scored the game-winning goal on a Wisconsin (24-1-1, 18-1-1-1 WCHA) Â power play with less than 90 seconds remaining and fellow sophomore Annie Pankowski added an empty-net tally with 25 seconds remaining to seal UW's sixth-straight victory.
Junior netminder Ann-Renée Desbiens collected 27 saves on the win, improving her goals-against average to 0.67 and her save percentage to .964. The Badgers continue to lead the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 16 goals in 26 games.Â
Despite outshooting North Dakota (13-8-1, 10-7-3-1 WCHA) 13-10 in the first frame, neither team was able to capitalize and went into the intermission tied 0-0.
For an extra offensive push with just over a minute to play in period two, Johnson put Nurse on the ice with usual line mates Clark and Pankowski, and it paid dividends. Clark won the face-off to Pankowski, who was able to chip the puck up ice to Nurse. From there, Nurse dangled between two Fighting Hawk defenseman and sent the puck between goaltender Shelby Amsley-Benzie's legs to give Wisconsin the 1-0 lead.
The Fighting Hawks would get their chance early in the third period during a Pankowski penalty. Piling three forward in front of Desbiens proved to be beneficial, as Becca Kohler was able to grab a rebound and throw it past Desbiens to knot the game at 1-1.
Both squads continued to battle through the period, and the game looked as if the Badgers would go into overtime with UND for the second time this season. However, with less than two minutes left in regulation, North Dakota's Kayla Gardner took a kneeing penalty to give the Badgers their third power-play opportunity of the afternoon.
Clark scored the game-winning goal on a textbook power-play setup, taking a pass from Pankowski and sniping the puck over Amsley-Benzie's right shoulder.
North Dakota pulled Amsley-Benzie for an extra attacker in the final minute of play, allowing Pankowski to score the empty-net insurance goal to lift UW to the 3-1 triumph. Pankowski leads the Badgers with 41 points and 24 assists this season.
Badgers Tabbed as WCHA Preseason Favorite
The Badgers were picked to win the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, according to a preseason poll of league coaches.
The defending WCHA regular season and tournament champions, UW earned 48 points and six first-place votes, while Minnesota collected 44 points and two first-place votes to finish second in the coaches poll.
North Dakota (36) and Minnesota Duluth (30) were slotted to finished third and fourth, respectively, in the WCHA. Rounding out the poll was Bemidji State (27), St. Cloud State (16), Ohio State (13), and Minnesota State (10). Coaches could not vote for their own teams.Â
Badgers on top in USCHO poll
Wisconsin started the 2016-17 season ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll, and has maintained that ranking through the first three weeks of play.
The Badgers received 150 votes in this week's poll, along with all 15 first-place votes.
Along with Wisconsin, fellow WCHA members Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota and Bemidji State also earned a top-10 ranking in the poll. Two-time defending NCAA champion Minnesota sits second, receiving 133 points, Minnesota Duluth slotted in at fourth with 93 points, North Dakota moved up to ninth with 31 points and Bemidji State comes in at tenth, earning 30 points.
Five Badgers earn spots on Team USA for Four Nations Cup
Junior Annie Pankowski will join former Badgers Brianna Decker, Meghan Duggan, Hilary Knight and Alex Rigsby on USA Hockey's roster for the 2016 Four Nations Cup, the organization announced Wednesday.
Pankowski is one of three collegians on the 23-player roster for the international tournament that takes place in Finland November 1-5.
The five Badgers helped the U.S. win gold earlier this year at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships, while the four former Badgers helped Team USA capture the 2015 Four Nations Cup.
Learn more about the Badgers selected here.
Note of the Week
Wisconsin has been dominating puck possession during the 2016-17 season, as the Badgers are outshooting their opponents by an average of 24.17 shtos on goal per contest. UW has three games this season where they've gathered at least 40 shots on net.
In the News:
Hitting the Mark
Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson became the first coach in WCHA history to record 400 career wins last weekend at Clarkson. Johnson is only the third coach in NCAA Division I women's hockey history to collect 400 career triumphs.
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