Top-ranked Wisconsin returns continues its homestand with a series against North Dakota this weekend.
Saturday's contest at LaBahn Arena starts at 1 p.m., while Sunday's tilt, which was originally scheduled for 2 p.m., now begins at noon.
About the Badgers
The Badgers boast the nation's top-ranked offense and defense so far this season. UW is averaging 4.09 goals per game after scoring 25 goals in its last four games. UW has allowed only 21 goals in its 23 games this year for an average of 0.91 goals per game.
With its sweep of St. Cloud State, UW clinched home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs for the 12th-straight year.
Senior Ann-Renee Desbiens leads NCAA goaltenders in goals-against average with a 0.66 clip, winning percentage with a mark of .917, save percentage with a .961 clip and shutouts with 10. The La Malbaie, Quebec native holds the NCAA record with 48 career shutouts.Â
Junior Emily Clark recorded her first collegiate hat trick in UW's 9-0 win over St. Cloud State. Clark has five goals, 10 assists and 15 points in her last five games for UW.
Junior Annie Pankowski recorded her second hat trick of the year in UW's 9-0 win on Friday. Pankowski has 14 goals and 13 assists on the year, with her 14 goals coming in her last nine games.
Senior Sarah Nurse ranks fifth in the NCAA with 15 goals scored this season. The senior alternate captain ranks second on the Badgers with 26 points and 10th in school history in career goals with 66.
Number of the Week
+33 – During Wisconsin's six-game winning streak, the Badgers have outscored their opponents 36-3 for a goal differential of 33.
About North Dakota
The Fighting Hawks enter the weekend sitting fourth in WCHA standings, with an overall record of 12-7-5.
UND is coming off a sweep of Minnesota State as the Fighting Hawks defeated the Mavericks, 3-2, in the series opener before shutting out MSU, 4-0, the following day.
Freshman Ryleigh Houston and senior Amy Menke are tied for the team lead with 18 points this season. Menke has seven goals, which is tied for team lead, and 11 assists, while Houston has six goals and a UND-best 12 assists.Â
Filled the Bowl
The top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team broke its own NCAA women's hockey single-game attendance record on Saturday as the Badgers defeated St. Cloud State in their "Fill the Bowl" game at the Kohl Center. A record-setting crowd of 15,359 fans cheered on UW as it shut out the Huskies, 2-0.
Clark, Desbiens earn WCHA weekly honors
After showcasing impressive performances over the weekend, Wisconsin women's hockey forward Emily Clark and goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens were named the WCHA Players of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.
Clark collected WCHA Co-Offensive Player of the Week accolades after recording an NCAA-best seven points over the weekend thanks to four goals and three assists.
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, native enjoyed a career day in UW's 9-0 win against St. Cloud State. She recorded her first career hat trick and ended the game with six points, which is tied for the second most in program history.
On the season, Clark has 26 points from nine goals and 17 assists, including 15 points in her last five games.
Desbiens earned two shutouts while improving to 16-1-1 in net for the Badgers to earn her second WCHA Defensive Player of the Week honor of the year.
With the sweep of St. Cloud State, the La Malbaie, Quebec, native now sits atop the NCAA in goals-against average (0.66), save percentage (.961), winning percentage (.917) and shutouts (10).
Four Badgers shine at U-18 Worlds
A quartet of future Badgers have led their respective national teams to the gold-medal game of the 2017 U-18 Women's World Championship in Zlin, Czech Republic.
Brette Pettet and Sophie Shirley led Canada to a championship matchup against Delaney Drake and Natalie Buchbinder of Team USA. Drake tallied the first goal of the tilt early in the second period, as the U.S. topped Canada, 3-1.
Nurse and Clark lead Canada to silver at Nations Cup
Junior Emily Clark and senior Sarah Nurse missed last week's game against Lindenwood as they helped Canada earn silver at the Nations Cup in Germany and Switzerland.
Nurse was tied for second on the Canadian roster with four points, while Clark dished out three assists during the week-long tournament.
Canada went undefeated in group play and advanced to the gold medal game where they lost to Finland, 1-0.Â
The tournament consisted of national teams from Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland.
Eight to join the Badgers next fall
The Wisconsin women's hockey program and head coach Mark Johnson announced the signing of eight student-athletes for the 2017-18 season.
Joining the Badgers next fall are forwards Delaney Drake (Traverse, Mich.), Kyleigh Hanzlik (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis), Brette Pettet (Kentville, Nova Scotia), Maddie Posick (Madison, Wis.), Caitlin Schneider (Glenview, Ill.) and Sophie Shirley (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and defensemen Grace Bowlby (Edina, Minn.) and Natalie Buchbinder (Fairport, N.Y.). Â
"If you look at the class as a whole, they're all good students and have a lot of skill," Johnson said. "This is good because we're going to need them to step in and play since we're going to lose five seniors and we could lose a couple other kids to centralization. So they're all going to have to come in and make a contribution next year, but I think they're well-equipped to do that because we're real excited with what they all bring to us and to watch them grow and develop.
"A lot of them know each other and know some of the younger players on our team right now, so the transition from going to their respective high schools to college is going to be easier because they know people here. It will be fun to work with because next year's team is going to be a lot of sophomores and freshmen. But it's an opportunity to grow together as the following year when we bring a couple of kids back, and our younger players are older, it'll be a pretty good team."
Learn more here.
Hitting the Mark:
Wisconsin head coach
Mark Johnson became the first coach in WCHA history to record 400 career wins in the Badgers sweep of Clarkson. Johnson is only the third coach in NCAA Division I women's hockey history to collect 400 career triumphs.
