UW junior Sis Paulsen never played women's hockey before she came to Madison.
She never had to.
The woman who once donned skates for the Eau Claire High School boys' team now laces up for UW women's hockey team and is the sole bearer of the \C"" on her shirt. Paulsen, who was co-captain for the Badgers last year in their third-place finish in the WCHA, now leads the team as UW attempts even greater feats.
""My job is to make sure the team is positive and staying that way,"" Paulsen said. ""I guess I take it upon myself to lead by example and the younger kids are doing a great job.""
A WCHA first-team selection her freshman year and WCHA All-Tournament squad selection last year, Paulsen has established a firm r??sum?? to be the team leader. Whether being the third-leading scorer or a leading defender, Paulsen has given the team whatever boost it has needed.
""The first year we were a decent team but didn't have much forward power, so I expected more out of myself to create offense,"" said Paulson, who scored 44 points her freshman year. ""But last year, we got these great offensive players and this year we've got some great kids that have come in. So my main focus now is defense.""
Last year, the Badgers finished third overall in the conference and third in the conference tournament as well, losing to eventual National Champion Minnesota-Duluth. Paulsen was instrumental in these results, setting up three goals in the third-place game against Minnesota and pushing the team to overtime against Minnesota-Duluth.
This year, the Badgers (4-0-2 overall, 3-0-1 in the conference) look to make the next step up in just their third year of existence.
""I'm not going to be the one scoring goals and getting assists. I'll be the one who is going to take the puck out of the zone,"" Paulsen said. ""As a defenseman, that's the first part of creating offense, getting it out of your own zone.
""We've got two years under our belt and know what to expect. Now expectations are even higher, we've got to get more wins and now we've got to win some big games and steal some from teams we're not supposed to beat,"" Paulsen said.
Paulsen's role as captain should give the team a healthy chance in fulfilling these goals. As Assistant Coach Dan Hoch said, ""[Sis] helps the team in all aspects. She helps the team in practice by pushing everyone. She gives it [her] all every drill and motivates by example. I think she's just maturing out there and understands her role better.\
