The No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team won the program's third consecutive WCHA Final Face-Off championship on Sunday, defeating Minnesota Duluth 4-1.  
 
The Badgers now look to take on No. 8 Robert Morris in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Puck drop on Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m. at LaBahn Arena.

Number of the Week
+77– Wisconsin enters the weekend on a 20-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 91-14 for a goal differential of 77.
  The University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Television announced Wednesday that Saturday's NCAA women's hockey tournament quarterfinal between the No. 1 Badgers and Robert Morris will be carried on the Wisconsin Channel.

In addition to watching the game on the Wisconsin Channel, fans will be able to watch 2 p.m. contest online either via the WPT website or on UWBadgers.com. Robb Vogel and Turina Bakken will be on the call.

Fans can also listen to the game on 100.9 FM as Reid Magnum will handle play-by-play duties while UW goaltender coach Mark Greenhalgh will provide color analysis.   

No more tickets remain for the Badgers' fourth-ever NCAA quarterfinal game at LaBahn Arena as the contest sold out in less than three hours.
  Fans who are coming to LaBahn Arena should be advised that Transportation Services will begin staffing all of the normal men's hockey game day lots surrounding the Kohl Center and LaBahn Arena at noon on Saturday. The permit price will be $5.
 
Patrons who arrive after 2 p.m. will have to pay the men's hockey game-day rate for parking.

About Robert Morris
Robert Morris comes to Madison with an overall record of 24-4-6, going 15-3-2 in conference play.
 
RMU is coming off a 2-0 win over Syracuse to clinch the College Hockey America postseason title. The Colonials were also the CHA regular season champions.
 
Junior Brittany Howard paces the Colonials in scoring, collecting 50 points from 20 goals and 30 assists.
 
Senior goaltender Jessica Dodds backstops RMU, going 16-2-5 in net for the Colonials and earning a .935 save percentage with a 1.75 goals-against average.

The series against Robert Morris
This weekend's series marks the ninth and 10th times the Badgers and Colonials have met.
 
The Badgers lead the all-time series with the Colonials, 7-1-0.
 
UW last played RMU on Nov. 20, 2010, when the Badgers defeated the Colonials 7-1.

Nurse honored again as WCHA Offensive Player of the Week
After a four-point weekend that included a short-handed goal featured on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays, Wisconsin women's hockey senior Sarah Nurse was named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.
 
It marks the fourth time this year that Nurse, an alternate captain, has received accolades from the WCHA, as she was previously named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 25, Dec. 6, 2016 and Feb. 28, 2017.
 
Nurse tallied the game-winning assist in UW's 2-1 win over North Dakota in Saturday's WCHA Final Face-Off semifinal before recording a goal and two assists in Sunday's 4-1 victory over Minnesota Duluth to help the Badgers clinch their third consecutive WCHA Final Face-Off championship.
 
A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Nurse is tied for the team lead in goals with 24, and is second in points with 52. The senior is tied for fourth in the nation in goals per game (0.67) and is tied for third in the country in short-handed goals (3). 

Desbiens named Patty Kazmaier Top-three finalist
For the second-straight year, Wisconsin women's hockey goaltender Ann-Renee 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.

Her 25 wins this year also pace the NCAA while her career win total of 95 ranks fifth in NCAA history.

She has been named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Month twice this year, the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week four times and the American Sports Network National Player of the Week once.

What's almost more impressive is what Desbiens, an accounting major, has done off the ice, as she holds a 3.367 cumulative grade-point average, despite not learning English until high school.

A three-time WCHA All-Academic honoree, Desbiens has been accepted in the Wisconsin School of Business to begin her Integrated Master of Accountancy degree and has secured a top-tier accounting internship in Chicago this summer.

She also is selfless, helping teammates and fellow student-athletes adjust to college life, as last year she helped fellow international student-athlete Andy Van Vliet when he arrived to Madison from Belgium.

Desbiens also spends time before and after games meeting and chatting with young fans that look up to her as a role model and has volunteered with the Badger Life program and at the Veterans hospital.

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.

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.