The No. 1 Wisconsin women's hockey team (22-2-2-1 WCHA, 28-2-2 overall) will host Ohio State (12-13-1, 15-13-4) this weekend in its final regular season series.
The Badgers took two games from the Buckeyes earlier this season in Columbus at the OSU Ice Rink. If the revenge factor isn't enough, Ohio State will be jockeying for its position in the WCHA playoffs in this weekend's series.
"I think we always get everybody's best game, but we do realize what's on the line for them," senior forward Brooke Ammerman said. "It will be good for us before we go to the playoffs to play tough games against teams that are on their last leg."
"They're definitely going to come out with a little more fire," senior forward Hilary Knight said.
While Ohio State might have more to play for in terms of playoff positioning, head coach Mark Johnson was quick to point out that this series has meaning to Wisconsin too. He stressed the importance of building off the momentum the team has created over the last few weeks.
"After this weekend, everybody's back at the starting line, and you're starting over," Johnson said. "Any kind of confidence you can build up, any momentum you can keep sustaining will only help you the following weekend."
Ohio State senior forward Natalie Spooner has been one of the top goal-scorers in the nation this season. She ranks third in both total and power play goals.
Knight acknowledged Spooner's offensive skill set but also expressed confidence in Wisconsin's special teams unit. She did so with good reason, as Wisconsin averages fewer penalties than eight of the top-ten teams. It also boasts the second-best penalty kill percentage in the nation.
"Our penalty-killing unit-if we do take a penalty-is a good unit," Knight said. "As long as we put attention toward Spooner and the other girls on their power play, I think we'll be successful."
While Johnson also recognized Spooner as an offensive threat, he said the Badgers will avoid having to defend her on the power play if they simply play smart on the defensive end.
"That's part of being a disciplined team - staying out of the box," Johnson said. "She's a player-even five-on-five-who you have to be aware of when she's on the ice because she's such a good skater."
Wisconsin will recognize its senior class this weekend at the Kohl Center, where a talented group of Badgers will play their final regular season games.
"Their commitment to our program for four years: It goes by quickly," Johnson said. "Through their hard work for 32 games [this season] you can look at each one of them and they've had great senior years, so that's cool. I like that."
The senior class composed of Knight, Ammerman, forward Carolyne Prévost, defender Brittany Haverstock and goaltender Nikki Kaasa has played on two national championship teams already. Ammerman knows this class isn't done yet.
"I think we've had an awesome ride; we've been very successful," Ammerman said. "Hopefully we're able to carry that out and go out on top. That's our plan."
