Border Battle awaits No. 1 Wisconsin

BY AJ HARRISON
UW Athletic Communications

MADISON, Wis. — The No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team checked one box off its to-do list last weekend, winning the WCHA regular season title with two games to spare in conference play.

After earning a 1-1 tie with No. 2 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, the Badgers blitzed the Bulldogs 8-0 on Sunday to claim the program's second-straight WCHA regular-season crown and its sixth overall.

But there's still unfinished business for the Badgers as they wrap up the regular season with a road Border Battle at Minnesota.

"This weekend is huge for us and it will be a confidence builder heading into the playoffs," senior captain Sydney McKibbon said. "We need to come out flying and set the pace of the game because we know that the Golden Gophers will be ready to play us."

The Golden Gophers, who currently sit in second-place in the WCHA standings, are one of only two teams to beat UW this year, as Minnesota earned a 2-0 on Dec. 3 in Madison. However the Badgers responded with an 8-2 win, the largest-ever win against the Golden Gophers, in the series finale.

"I'm expecting a hard fought battle," freshman Abby Roque said. "It's a huge rivalry and I know both teams are going to want these wins and no one is going to let up in these games."

"These games will help us prepare for our playoff series the following weekend," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "We're looking forward to the challenge. It's always fun to play Minnesota, whether we play them here at LaBahn Arena or up there at Ridder Arena. They are always entertaining and bring the best out of both teams."

This also marks the second-straight year UW has ended the regular season with a road trip to the Twin Cities after clinching the regular-season title.

"Even though we clinched the WCHA title, in the bigger picture we still have a lot of things at stake," Johnson said. "Depending on the outcome of the two games this weekend, it can have ramifications down the road."

The Badgers, Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota are currently the top-three teams in the Pairwise Rankings, a system that mimics the selection criteria used by the NCAA to pick the field of eight teams that will compete at this year's national championship. The top four teams will host NCAA quarterfinal games, a contest that UW would want to host.

"Even though we have clinched the WCHA regular season title, we want to win every game and come out on top no matter what," McKibbon said. "Our mentality this entire season has been to come to the rink every day and get better and we fully expect to do that this weekend."

Following this weekend's Border Battle, the Badgers return to LaBahn Arena to host Minnesota State in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

Tickets for the best-of-three series Feb. 24-26 are still available at UWBadgers.com.

University of Wisconsin Athletics

Border Battle awaits No. 1 Wisconsin

Players Mentioned

Sydney McKibbon

Abby Roque

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