MADISON, Wis. – Fresh off of a sweep at Lindenwood, the top-ranked Wisconsin women's hockey team continues its road swing with a trip to Lawler Rink in North Andover, Mass., to take on Merrimack College this weekend. Puck drop on Friday and Saturday is set for 1 p.m. CT and the games can be seen online for free through College Sports Live.
1. LAST TIME OUT: The Badgers earned an impressive sweep on the road to open up the 2021-22 season, defeating Lindenwood 8-1 on Friday night before earning a 10-0 win on Saturday. Friday's triumph marked UW's largest season-opening win in 10 years. Sixteen different Badgers recorded points, led by the trio of
Casey O'Brien,
Makenna Webster and
Sophie Shirley who each recorded six points during the weekend.
2. DUO EARN WEEKLY HONORS: Casey O'Brien and
Katie Kotlowski both took home WCHA weekly honors as O'Brien was named the WCHA Forward of the Week while Kotlowski was awarded the WCHA Defender of the Week honor. O'Brien scored six goals during the sweep and posted a four-goal game on Saturday, becoming only the sixth Badger to score four or more goals in a game. Her six goals were the most by a Badger in a weekend since Hilary Knight scored seven against Quinnipiac during the first weekend of the 2007-08 season. Kotlowski scored her first career goal in UW's 8-1 win on Friday before scoring both a power-play and shorthanded goal in Saturday's 10-0 triumph. She was +7 during the sweep, which was the third-best rating by a Badger.
3. NEW WEEK, NEW OPPONENT: Merrimack College will become the 35th different NCAA Division I foe the Badgers have faced in school history. Merrimack started its program during the 2015-16 season and are a member of Hockey East. The Warriors will be the first of two new foes for UW this year as the Badgers will play new WCHA member St. Thomas four times during the season.
4. RECORD BOOK WATCH: Daryl Watts is only four points away from cracking the NCAA career top-10 list as the senior enters the weekend with 245 career points. She just needs four points to pass Amanda Kessel for 10th place in NCAA history while five points would put Watts in ninth place, passing Kendall Coyne.
Sophie Shirley is also moving up the charts as the senior forward is ranked 13th in school history in goals with 62 while her 130 points put here in a tie for 17th in program history.
5.
READY TO COME HOME: Following UW's trek out East, the Badgers will turn their attention to their first home games in front of fans in more than 600 days when they host St. Cloud State next weekend at LaBahn Arena. The Badgers will recognize the 2021 NCAA Championship team prior to a 2 p.m. puck drop on Saturday, Oct. 9 and will unveil a new national championship banner in LaBahn Arena. The Badgers' home opener is sold out, but tickets remain for the series finale with SCSU on Sunday, Oct. 10 at UWBadgers.Com.
