For the first time this season, the No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team (16-2-2-1 WCHA, 22-2-2 overall) will play back-to-back prime-time games at the Kohl Center. The Badgers will host Bemidji State (14-10-3, 8-10-2) Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Wisconsin outscored Bemidji State 9-2 in a series sweep in Minnesota last month. While the series sweep has been commonplace for the Badgers this season, they are the only team to have swept the Beavers.
"We played really well in December back [in Minnesota]," junior Brianna Decker said. "We just need to keep things simple and get a lot of shots. They have a good goaltender, so we're going to have to test her out."
Senior forward Brooke Ammerman echoed Decker's analysis, noting senior goaltender Zuzana Tomcikova's effectiveness in the net.
"We're probably not going to score a lot on the first shots," Ammerman said. "We need to get a lot of second or third opportunities and put some in the net."
The Beavers are currently unranked, but have bounced in and out of the rankings all season. With four wins against ranked teams, Bemidji State has certainly proven it can play with anyone.
"They play aggressive, they work hard and they've got a very good goaltender," head coach Mark Johnson said. "Put those things together and you're going to have a chance to win every game."
Special teams certainly play a role in every hockey game, however, it could be the difference-maker in this weekend's series. Wisconsin and Bemidji State have been nearly identical in terms of power play and penalty kill efficiency this season.
"It's one of those parts of the games that you can win if you're better than the other team in that specific area," Johnson said. "You have to be disciplined and not take any unnecessary penalties."
Much has been made of Saturday night's "Fill the Bowl" game, in which Wisconsin will attempt to break the NCAA women's hockey single-game attendance record that it set last season. Johnson acknowledges the Kohl Center will be electric Saturday night, but does not want his team to look beyond Friday's game.
"We've got a game Friday first," Johnson said. "We don't get past that, at least in my mind."
While Decker knows Friday night's game is the most important on the schedule, she could not help but express excitement for the weekend series as a whole.
"We've been talking about [this weekend's series] since the beginning of January," Decker said. "It's kind of nice not having other sports this weekend so that more fans can come out to support us."
10,668 fans came to the Kohl Center for last season's "Fill the Bowl" game.
"The crowd we got last year was unbelievable," Ammerman said. "To top that [this weekend] would be pretty tough."
