BY AJ HARRISON
UW Athletic Communications

MADISON, Wis. — It's a new season for the Wisconsin women's hockey team as the Badgers begin their quest for their third-straight WCHA tournament title this weekend with a best-of-three series against Minnesota State at LaBahn Arena.

 "We're back at the starting line," UW head coach Mark Johnson said. "Everybody's got no wins, no losses, no ties. Two week tournament, another opportunity to play for a championship within our playoff structure, so looking forward to the preparation as we get ready for Friday night's game against Minnesota State."

The Badgers are coming off of a tough stretch of games, as UW hosted No. 2 Minnesota Duluth before taking on No. 4 Minnesota on the road. The two teams are the only two programs in the country to have beaten the Badgers this year.

"The tough run got us prepared to be playing in playoff-like games in playoff-like atmospheres," freshman Presley Norby said.  "Getting challenged every weekend shows us what we need to continue doing and also what we need to work on to finish the season strong."

Wisconsin went 1-0-3 in their four-game stretch against two of the top four teams in the country, but allowed only three goals to two of the most potent offenses in the NCAA.

"It's a long regular season," Johnson said. "Obviously we did a lot of wonderful things, but now you've got to mentally switch and get into playoff mode because you're only guaranteed next weekend."

It marks the second straight year that the Badgers and Mavericks have met in the first round series of the WCHA tournament as UW swept Minnesota State last year en route to the program's sixth WCHA Final Face-Off title.

"The mindset for this weekend doesn't change a whole lot," senior Mikayla Johnson said. "We want to try to not to change too much and keep our same schedule and be consistent."

This weekend's series, which begins with a 7 p.m. game at LaBahn Arena on Friday, also gives the No. 1 Badgers another chance to play in front of their home fans.

"It's very exciting to play back in Madison," Mikayla Johnson said. "Not only is playing at home exciting, but getting to play in front of our fans again is amazing!"

The winner of this weekend's best-of-three playoff series advances to the 2017 WCHA Final Face-Off in Minneapolis, March 4-5 at Ridder Arena.