After sweeping Minnesota State in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, the No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team will meet North Dakota in the semifinals of the 2017 WCHA Final Face-Off on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Ridder Arena.
The winner of the first semifinal will meet the victor of Minnesota Duluth/Minnesota on Sunday in the WCHA Final Face-Off title game, also at 2 p.m.
About the Badgers
The Badgers enter the league tournament as the No. 1 seed as UW looks to win its third-straight WCHA tournament title.
The Badgers have been on a roll in the WCHA tournament action with seven-straight shutouts. The last time UW gave up a goal in the WCHA playoff play was on March 7, 2015 against North Dakota.Â
UW enters this weekend with an 18-game unbeaten-streak, the longest active unbeaten stretch in the NCAA.
Senior Ann-Renée Desbiens, a Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist, leads NCAA goaltenders in goals-against average with a 0.69 clip, winning percentage with a mark of .900, save percentage with a .963 clip and shutouts with 15. Desbiens now has 53 career shutouts and has had three-straight seasons with at least 14 shutouts.
Junior Annie Pankowski, also a Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist, has been on a tear during the Badgers' unbeaten run with 38 points during the span thanks to 16 goals and 22 assists. Pankowski ranks fifth in the country in scoring, averaging 1.61 points per game. Her goals per game average of 0.71 also leads the NCAA.
Junior Emily Clark has been clutch this year for UW as eight of Clark's 17 goals this year have been game-winners. Clark currently leads the NCAA in the category.
Senior Sarah Nurse leads UW with 23 goals after tallying a hat trick in UW's 6-0 win on Saturday afternoon. It marked her third hat trick of the season.
Number of the Week
+73 – Wisconsin enters the weekend on an 18-game unbeaten streak, as UW's last loss came on Dec. 3 against then-No. 2 Minnesota. During the unbeaten streak, UW has outscored its opponents 85-12 for a goal differential of 73.
About North Dakota
North Dakota finished the regular season with a 11-12-5 conference ledger, and a 16-15-6 overall record.
UND is coming off a series win over Ohio State in the first-round of the WCHA playoffs. The Fighting Hawks won two of the three games against the Buckeyes, scoring an overtime goal in the third game to advance to the semifinals.
Senior Amy Menke and freshman Ryleigh Houston lead the Fighting Hawks in points with 26 apiece. Menke's tallied 10 goals and 16 assists, while Houston has eight goals and 18 assists.
Senior goaltender Lexie Shaw backstops UND, going 15-12-6 for a 1.67 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage.
The series against North Dakota
This weekend's series marks the 61st and 62nd times the Badgers and Fighting Hawks have met.
The Badgers lead the all-time series with the Fighting Hawks, 49-7-4.
UW swept UND in the regular season, going 4-0 against the Fighting Hawks.
This also marks the fifth time in the last seven years UW and North Dakota have met in the semifinals of the league tournament.Â
Powering Up
One of the key's to UW's recent success has been the improved power play, as UW now ranks fourth in the NCAA with a .226 clip.
Since Jan. 1, UW's power play leads the NCAA with a .385 conversion rate, converting 20 of its 52 opportunities with a man advantage. Wisconsin has also tallied at least one power-play goal in 12 of its 15 games in 2017
UW is 19-0-0 this season when scoring at least one power play goal. 11 different Badgers have at least one power-play goal this year, as Abby Roque has four of her seven goals this year with a player advantage. Annie Pankowski, Sydney McKibbon, Sarah Nurse, Emily Clark and Jenny Ryan each have three power-play goals.Â
Klling It
UW's penalty kill has been critical during the Badgers' recent success, as UW has allowed only two power-play goals in its last 17 games.Â
Minnesota State was the last team to score a power-play goal on the Badgers, as the Mavericks' only goal during UW's sweep on Jan. 27-28 was with a player advantage.Â
Since then, UW has killed its opponents last 35 power plays dating back to Jan. 28. Since the new year, the Badgers' penalty kill clip of .965 paces the NCAA, while on the entire season the Badgers rank second with a .923 mark.Â
Clark, Mikkelson and Turnbull named to Canada's World Championship roster
Hockey Canada announced Monday that Wisconsin women's hockey junior Emily Clark, along with former Badgers Meaghan Mikkelson and Blayre Turnbull, have been selected for the 23-player roster that will compete at the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship.
Clark is no stranger to competing at the world level, competing at the 2015 and 2016 IIHF World Championships. Turnbull is making her second appearance at the world tournament while Mikkelson, a two-time Olympian, will play at her seventh IIHF World Championship.
This year's world championship takes place in Plymouth, Michigan as the U.S. and Canada meet on Friday, March 31 in a 6:30 p.m. CT contest. The week-long tournament wraps up on Friday, April 7 with the gold-medal game at 6:30 p.m.
Learn more here.
Desbiens named finalist for Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award
For the second-straight year, Wisconsin women's hockey goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens has earned a spot on the top-three list for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, the highest individual honor in women's college hockey, USA Hockey announced Thursday.
The 2017 WCHA Goaltending Champion, Desbiens leads the NCAA in goals-against average with a 0.69 mark, which is lower than her NCAA-record 0.76 goals-against average she collected last year. She also has a .963 save percentage this year, a rate that trumps her NCAA-record .960 clip set a year ago.
A native of La Malbaie, Quebec, Desbiens also leads the NCAA in shutouts with 15 and winning percentage with a .900 clip.
She broke the NCAA record for career shutouts with 44 on Nov. 6, 2016 and currently has 53 career blank slates in only 115 starts for the Cardinal and White.
Joining Desbiens on the top-three list are Minnesota Duluth senior forward Lara Stalder and Clarkson senior forward Cayley Mercer.
Desbiens is only the second Badger to earn a spot on the top-three list multiple times, as Sara Bauer was a top-three selection in 2006 and 2007. Desbiens aims to become Wisconsin's fifth recipient of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, joining Bauer (2006), Jessie Vetter (2009), Meghan Duggan (2011) and Brianna Decker (2012).
The UW netminder looks to become only the third goaltender to win the award, joining Vetter and Brown's Ali Brewer (2000).
The 2017 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will be presented at a brunch ceremony at the Foundry Arts Centre in St. Charles, Missouri on March 18, as a part of the NCAA Women's Frozen Four weekend.
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Badgers earn several WCHAÂ season honors
After claiming the program's sixth WCHA regular season crown, seven members of the Wisconsin women's hockey team received season honors from the league on Thursday.
Freshman Abby Roque was named the WCHA Rookie of the Year, while senior Ann-Renee Desbiens was named the league's goaltending champion for the third time in her career.
Desbiens, along with junior Annie Pankowski and senior Jenny Ryan were All-WCHA First Team selections, while Sarah Nurse earned second-team honors and Emily Clark took home third-team accolades. Roque and fellow freshman Mekenzie Steffen were two of six league newcomers to be selected for the WCHA All-Rookie 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.
