When No. 2-seed Wisconsin takes the ice Friday and squares off against No. 3-seed North Dakota in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Face-Off, it'll be looking to not just advance to the finals, but to exact a little revenge as well.
After all, it was North Dakota that defeated UW in the semifinals of last year’s WCHA Final Face-Off, which ultimately cost the Badgers a spot in the NCAA tournament.
However, this year is a little different, as second-ranked Wisconsin (21-5-2 WCHA, 27-6-2 overall) will be headed to the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens this weekend.
UND, on the other hand, needs a win to keep their season alive.
“The work that we’re going to see is going to be one of desperation,” head coach Mark Johnson said. “(North Dakota) doesn’t want to end their season Friday night; they want to play and see another day.”
The Badgers are coming off a hard-fought weekend against No. 7-seed Minnesota State, a series that took three games to determine who would advance to the semifinals in Bemidji, Minnesota.
UW took Game one of the WCHA first-round series, dominating the Mavericks en route to a 4-0 victory.
But Minnesota State refused to go down quietly, stunning the Badgers 3-0 to force a deciding game three, which put the players in the unfamiliar position of playing three games in three days.
“None of us had played three games in a weekend since high school,” senior forward Madison Packer said. “It was a completely different pace and completely different game.”
Despite the shocking loss in game two, Wisconsin rose to the occasion, picking up a 2-0 win over the Mavericks to advance to the semifinals.
“I thought we responded well; we’re not used to playing three games in three days,” Johnson said. “I thought our energy was good and we competed hard for sixty minutes.”
North Dakota (14-10-4, 19-11-4) swept No. 6-seed Bemidji State in their first-round series, but it still proved to be a test.
After handily defeating the Beavers by a score of 4-1 in game one of the series, UND needed overtime to get a 3-2 win in game two to clinch their spot in the WCHA Final Face-Off.
It was a big sweep for North Dakota, who entered the playoffs on a four-game losing streak, in large part due to the fact that three of its players were in Sochi to play in the Olympics.
In addition to advancing to the finals of the WCHA conference tournament, a win over North Dakota would have historic value for the Badgers, specifically senior goaltender Alex Rigsby.
With one more victory, Rigsby would become just the third goaltender in NCAA women’s hockey history to post 100 career wins, joining Minnesota’s Noora Räty (114) and Mercyhurst’s Hillary Pattenden (100).
But despite the fact she’s on the brink of making history, Coach Johnson doesn’t anticipate Rigsby will get caught up on any kind of individual feat, but instead keep herself and her teammates focused on the larger task at hand.
“For Alex, she’s been more attuned to keeping the team focused and keeping them together,” Johnson said. “The reason we named her captain is because the players respect her and when she talks, people are going to listen.”
The Badgers certainly won’t be overlooking North Dakota. They not only eliminated UW in the WCHA semifinals last year, but also handed Wisconsin its first home loss this season back in January.
“I liked the way we responded on Sunday with our backs against the wall,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, you get rewarded with one more game, and that game will be more challenging and more difficult because the stakes are higher. It’s a good learning process for us.”
The winner of Friday’s contest will go on to face the winner of Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth in the WCHA conference final Saturday night.
