The No.1 Wisconsin women's hockey team (13-1-0 WCHA, 19-1-0 overall) came into the season as the defending national champion in women's collegiate hockey. The Badgers have hit the midway point of the season and have yet to deviate from that top spot.
After hosting Lindenwood in late September, Wisconsin began its toughest stretch of hockey during the 2011 portion of the season. The eight-game October slate featured matchups with four top-10 teams, and the Badgers came out with just one loss.
That loss came courtesy of then-No. 3 Minnesota on a Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center. The Gophers are currently No. 2, thanks to nine wins in their last 10 games.
While Minnesota has certainly been Wisconsin's toughest competition of the season, the best game of the season-from a spectator's standpoint-came one week earlier against then-No. 6 North Dakota.
The Badgers trailed for most of the game, but senior forward Brooke Ammerman scored a power play goal with one minute left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
Midway through extra time, senior forward Carolyne Prevost found senior forward and team captain Hilary Knight for the game-winner.
In nearly every postgame interview during that October stretch, head coach Mark Johnson stressed the importance of coming away with such big wins so early in the season. Johnson could not have been more correct. The Badgers hold a two-game lead over the Gophers in the WCHA after winning 14 straight.
After sweeping a series on the road against then-No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth, Wisconsin returned home to host its toughest non-conference opponent of the season in then-No. 4 Boston University. The Badgers closed their tough October stretch in style, outscoring the Terriers 9-1 in the sweep.
Wisconsin followed its daunting October schedule with four consecutive unranked opponents. The Badgers went undefeated over the stretch, and their closest game during it was-surprisingly enough-a 4-3 win against a then-three-win RPI team.
Wisconsin closed the 2011 portion of the season with a road trip to Bemidji to face then-No. 7 Bemidji State. Despite not having played a ranked opponent since late October, the Badgers showed they had not missed a beat with two solid victories over the Beavers.
The Badgers' statistics support their No. 1 ranking. Wisconsin has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 102-26, thanks in large part to three Badgers who rank in the nation's top-five in goals: Knight (23), junior forward Brianna Decker (21) and Ammerman (17).
Decker leads the team with 27 assists and has scored a nation-best 48 points, while sophomore goaltender Alex Rigsby leads the nation with a .949 save percentage.
The Badgers' special teams units-the power play and penalty kill-both rank in the nation's top-five. Between the team's offensive firepower, Rigsby's play in goal and highly efficient special teams, it makes sense that Wisconsin owns the nation's best goal differential (3.8).
Wisconsin is getting the job done in crunch time, too: The Badgers have outscored their opponents by more in the third period than any other.
Through the first half of the season, the Badgers have proven they are the clear-cut favorite to win the national championship. Wisconsin cannot ask for a better way to prove itself than starting the second half of the season with a road trip to Minnesota.
