Five Things to Know: Top-ranked Badgers open 2020-21 season at No. 4 Ohio State

Friday, November 27

Columbus, OH

5 PM

Wisconsin Badgers

Ohio State

Photo by: David Stluka

Five Things to Know: Top-ranked Badgers open 2020-21 season at No. 4 Ohio State

November 25, 2020 | Women's Hockey

UW Game Notes WCHA Notes

Top-four battle awaits Badgers in season-opening clash

Wisconsin

0-0-0

Ohio State

1-1-0

Game One Coverage

Friday, Nov. 27 | 5:07 pm CT — Columbus, Ohio

Watch on BTN+

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Game Two Coverage

Saturday, Nov. 28 | 1:37 pm CT — Columbus, Ohio

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MADISON, Wis.— The No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team is heading to Columbus to face the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes for the 2020-21 season-opening weekend.

UW and OSU meet on Friday in a 5 p.m. CT clash at the OSU Ice Rink before wrapping up the series at 1:30 p.m. CT. Both games can be seen online via BTN+.

"I'm going to say something I know I haven't said since last March, we have a game week coming up."

Hear what #Badgers head coach Mark Johnson had to say about the first game week of the 2020-21 season pic.twitter.com/uOsQ0hA4AS
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) November 23, 2020

Here are five things to know to help get the season started.

1. TOP BILLING Wisconsin heads into the first week of the season ranked No. 1 across the boards. The WCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll, the USCHO Poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll all have the Badgers at the top.

For the WCHA Preseason Coaches' Poll, Wisconsin received four first place votes, ahead of Minnesota with three. The team also began last year ranked No. 1.

The Badgers received 11 of the 15 first place votes on the USCHO poll and were last ranked No. 1. Northeastern received the other four votes.

The team received nine of 19 first place votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and ended last season at No. 2. They are ahead of Cornell with seven votes, Northeastern with two and Minnesota with one.

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2. WCHA'S FINEST: Senior Daryl Watts has been named the WCHA Preseason Player of the Year, becoming the sixth Badger to earn the preseason accolade. The UW record-holder for single-season assists with 49 last year, Watts led the NCAA in points last year with 74 and collected second-team All-America honors. Junior Sophie Shirley joins Watts on the pre-season All-WCHA Team. A second-team All-WCHA selection last year, Shirley is one goal away from 50 for her career and one point away from 100 points.

Congrats to #Badgers Daryl Watts who was named the @WCHA_WHockey Preseason Player of the Year and @sophieshirley9 who was named to the preseason All-WCHA team pic.twitter.com/c6VBw1JcnQ
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) November 16, 2020

3. LEADING LADIES: This season, the Badgers are headed up by senior co-captains, Grace Bowlby and Brette Pettet. Senior Caitlin Schneider and junior Britta Curl will serve as alternate captains. This is the third time in four years that Wisconsin will have co-captains.

Learn more about this year's captains here.

Presenting your 2020-21 captains!

📝 - https://t.co/jveFflBUP5 #Badgers || #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/b7yIwB0Sqo
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) November 11, 2020

4. FRESH FACES: Wisconsin welcomes six new players to the team, including five freshmen and one graduate transfer. Graduate transfer golatender Kennedy Blair joins the Badgers from Mercyhurst. The freshmen are forwards Casey O'Brien, Makenna Webster and Maddi Wheeler, defenseman Mayson Toft and goaltender Jane Gervais. O'Brien and Webster have experience skating for the US. under-18 team and joined teammates Grace Bowlby, Britta Curl and Nicole LaMantia at the USA Hockey Evaluation Camp last month while Wheeler skated for the Canadian under-18 squad.

5. ABOUT THE BUCKEYES: No. 4 Ohio State is 1-1 this year after earning a split in its first series at No. 3 Minnesota last weekend. The Badgers went 2-2-1 against OSU last year as UW swept OSU in Columbus to open conference play. OSU was also the last time UW faced during the 2019-20 season before the season was shut down due to COVID-19.