Wisconsin Badgers
Boston College
Five things to know: No. 1 Badgers hit the road to take on BC
October 02, 2024 | Women's Hockey
Wisconsin plays a two-game series against Boston College on Friday and Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
MADISON, Wis. – After starting the season 2-0, The Wisconsin women's hockey team travels to Massachusetts for a two-game away series Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. against the Boston College Eagles.
Fans can follow along from home on 1070 The Game as Paul Braun will have the call from Chestnut Hill. Fans can also watch Friday’s action live on ESPN U as John Buccigross and AJ Mleczko are on the call and Saturday’s game on ESPN+.
Here are five things to know about the series.
1. SOARING OVER THE EAGLES
Wisconsin leads the all-time series against BC 9-0-0. The Badgers swept the Eagles last season at LaBahn, earning a 5-3 win on Oct. 5 before running away with a 12-2 triumph on Oct. 6. Wisconsin hasn’t played BC in Boston since Jan. 26, 2002 where the Badgers walked out of Beantown with a 7-0 victory.
Marianne Picard scored one and had four helpers during Wisconsin’s sweep over BC last year. Sarah Wozniewicz had three goals and one assist. Lacey Eden had three goals and one assist last year against the Eagles, Laila Edwards, Kirsten Simms and Casey O’Brien each had a goal and three assists, while Caroline Harvey had four assists.
2. WHAT A WEEKEND
The Badgers swept Lindenwood last weekend, posting a program record and NCAA record-tying eight goal first period in game one. They’d close out game one with a 12-0 victory. The Badgers stayed hot in game two, notching a six goal second period and an 8-1 victory, for an aggregate 20-1 weekend.
12 different Badgers scored in the opening series, while Picard and Eden scored three goals each. Edwards, O’Brien, Kelly Gorbatenko and Cassie Hall scored two goals each. All three Wisconsin netminders — Ava McNaughton, Chloe Baker and Quinn Kuntz — played at least a period, with McNaughton starting both games.
Proud of our captains for earning @WCHA_WHockey weekly honors!
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerWHockey) September 30, 2024
?? https://t.co/PKWNbLRNBx#Badgers || #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/h9vPsGWTBH
3. LEAD BY EXAMPLE
The Wisconsin co-captains in Harvey and O’Brien both received recognition for their performances in week one. Harvey received WCHA Defender the Week honors while Casey O’Brien earned WCHA Forward of the Week honors.
Harvey led all WCHA defenders with five points on four assists and a goal last week, tying for first among all defenders in goals. O’Brien led the WCHA with eight points on two goals and an impressive WCHA-leading six assists.
4. THE VIEW FROM THE TOP
After starting the season ranked No. 2 in the USCHO preseason poll, the Badgers earned the No. 1 spot in the latest Sept. 30th poll. That came with a whopping 17 first place votes out of the 20 available first place votes.
The Badgers also rank first in the USA Hockey/The Rink Live poll, where they started the season ranked No. 1.
5. YOU CAN COUNT ON CASEY
The Badger co-captain O’Brien is closing on 200 career points, after adding eight in the series against Lindenwood for a total of 194. O’Brien currently is third overall in the NCAA for total points and leads all forwards with four points per game.
The Milton, Massachusetts, native is also closing in on the all-time Badger assist record. O'Brien sits in fourth place in school history now in career assists with 121 assists, only 17 short of Sara Bauer's school record of 138 assists. Last season, O’Brien became the first Badger in school history to record 50 assists in a season
O’Brien received WCHA Forward of the Week and WCHA Forward of the Month honors to open the season.
