Before Brianna Decker skated in Camp Randall she checked out its extremes.
She saw it quiet and empty while running the stadium steps with her UW teammates during summer conditioning sessions.
She experienced it deafening and full while watching the Badgers win six of seven home football games on the way to a 10-3 overall record in 2009.
Sitting in the student section, watching future NFL fixtures like Garrett Graham, Lance Kendricks, Chris Maragos and J.J. Watt, Decker couldn’t help but think about what it would be like playing inside the historic site.
“It definitely crossed my mind,” she said. “The football guys are so fortunate to have the fans that they have every Saturday. To have that feeling that February was unbelievable.”
The women’s game was part of a UW doubleheader. The men’s squad hosted Michigan in the nightcap and drew a crowd of 55,031.
The Wisconsin men, featuring 10 future NHL players as well as 2010 Hobey Baker Award winner Blake Geoffrion, rallied for a 3-2 victory and went on to advance to the NCAA title game before falling to Boston College.
The matinee that sunny Saturday in early February was played in temperatures in the 20s with a wind chill of 10 degrees.
“You knew it was going to be cold, but it kind of brings you back to your youth, playing pond hockey growing up,” Decker said. “You just embrace the cold — cold feet, cold hands — but I think I was just wrapped up in the moment of playing in front of fans and enjoying my teammates.”
Decker said she thought about wearing extra layers of clothes to stay warm, but wound up adding only eye black on her cheeks to cut down on the glare of the sun.
“I wanted to get a sweat going really fast,” she said.
Decker’s line that day was dominant. With Carolyn Prevost on left wing and Kelly Nash on the right side, the trio combined for 10 points — four goals, six assists — as well as 11 shots and finished a cumulative plus-11.
“We embraced the moment for sure that day,” Decker said. “We had so much fun with it. The sun was shining. It was a great day to play hockey.”
Reminded that she had a pretty good game statistically, Decker demurred.
“I remember losing the game the next day at the Kohl Center,” she said of a 2-0 setback.
Decker, who grew up in Dousman, Wisconsin, and attended Shattuck St. Mary’s (Minnesota) High School, ranks second all-time on the UW career scoring list with 244 points (115 goals, 129 assists) and is one of five Patty Kazmaier winners to play for the Badgers.
When Johnson, Duggan and Knight returned for the 2010-11 season — Duggan was a senior and Knight a junior — Wisconsin dominated, winning the most recent of its four national titles.
When Decker won the Patty Kazmaier Award as a junior in 2012 — she amassed 37-45-82 — the Badgers advanced to the NCAA championship game before losing to Minnesota.
Decker subsequently played for Team USA in the 2014 Winter Olympics and is expected to reprise her top-line role in the 2018 Games.
A lot of good things have happened to Decker since her star-crossed debut at UW, one that had an auspicious start.
“It was really tough,” she said.
Getting hurt right out of the gate was a bummer.
“I deked the goalie and got tripped while I was deking,” Decker said, reliving her second-period goal during a 3-0 victory over North Dakota on Oct. 3, 2009. “I literally slid into the back of the net. Usually the net moves, but the way I hit it — I was flat on the ice — it didn’t move it all and my arm was fully extended.”
Decker said she’s had broken bones before, but this injury was especially painful because of the timing.
“The disappointing part is that I was so excited to get into college hockey after graduating high school,” she said. “I knew I was ready.”
As a member of the U.S. women’s national team, Decker has played for multiple world championship squads and owns a silver medal from the 2014 Olympics. She recently was named USA Hockey Player of the Year.
Decker said playing in an outdoor game ranks among her career highlights.
“Definitely top 10,” she said.
What made the experience especially gratifying was its location.
“Playing an outdoor game at a different place, it would have been exciting,” Decker said, “but being able to play at Camp Randall Stadium is what makes it such a highlight.”
