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Badger women’s hockey team picked to win WCHA

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Badger women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson (Photo by David Stluka)

The Wisconsin women’s hockey team is picked to win the WCHA for the fourth-straight year.

The Badgers earned 33 points and four first-place votes in a vote by the league’s coaches.  Minnesota also received 33 points and three first-place votes,  The two rivals battle it out on two separate occasions this season with a two-game series in Madison on Oct. 27-28 and another two-game series in Minneapolis on Jan. 18-19.

Senior forwards Emily Clark and Annie Pankowski were named to the Preseason All-WCHA Team in addition to senior defenseman Mikaela Gardner.

The WCHA poll and preseason honors announcement comes a day after UW checked in at No. 2 in the preseason USCHO.Com National Poll.

Badger women back in NCAA Frozen Four (AUDIO)

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The Wisconsin women’s hockey team are back in the NCAA Frozen Four for the fifth consecutive year and 11th time overall, blanking the rival Minnesota Gophers 4-0 on Saturday at LaBahn Arena in the quarterfinals.

The 2nd-seeded Badgers (31-4-2) went 5-1 against the Gophers this season.

Sophomore goaltender Kristen Campbell faced only 12 shots and sophomore center Abby Roque (Rock) scored back-to-back goals in a span of 16 seconds and added an assist to help the Badgers knock off the Gophers.

UW had more shots on goal (14) in the first 20 minutes of the game than the Gophers managed the entire game.  Wisconsin outshot Minnesota 39-12.

The Gophers, who upset the Badgers in the WCHA title game last week, saw their season come to an end with a 24-11-3 record.

The Badgers will meet third-seeded Colgate (33-5-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.  Top-seeded Clarkson (34-4-1) meets Ohio State (24-10-4) in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday.  The winners will meet for the championship on Sunday at 2 p.m.

All three NCAA Frozen Four games will be televised by BTN.

AUDIO: Kristen Campbell on losing at Minny 3-1 last week, then playing their best game of the year :12

AUDIO: Mark Johnson on his team playing their best game on a big stage :19

AUDIO: Abby Roque on scoring two goals in a 16-sec. span in 2nd period :17

Top-ranked Wisconsin earns sweep over rival Minnesota in women’s hockey

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Baylee Wellhausen

Senior co-captain Baylee Wellhausen scored 1:32 into overtime to lead the number-1 ranked Wisconsin Badger women’s hockey team to a 2-1 victory over number-6 Minnesota on Sunday at Ridder Arena.

Wellhausen scored her second goal of the weekend and of the season for Wisconsin (12-0-0, 6-0-0 WCHA), firing the puck over the shoulder of Minnesota (5-4-1, 4-3-1-0 WCHA) goaltender Sydney Peters.

The two teams were scoreless in the first period.  The Badgers capitalized on a 2-on-1 situation in the second as junior Sam Cogan slotted the puck onto the stick of sophomore Alexis Mauermann who put it past Peters to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead.

The Gophers scored a short time later on a power-play to send the game tied 1-1 into the third period.

Wisconsin completed its first sweep at Minnesota since the 2006-07 season and only its fourth road sweep of the Golden Gophers in school history.

The Badgers outshot Minnesota 27-17, marking the 11th time this year UW has outshot its opponent.

Wisconsin returns home to face No. 4 Ohio State in a Saturday-Sunday series at LaBahn Arena.  Saturday’s game, which is sold out, begins at 2 p.m. while Sunday’s game starts at noon.

AUDIO: Baylee Wellhausen says great game, good result :18

AUDIO: Mark Johnson says it’s a good win for his team :14

 

Badger women return to Frozen Four semifinals

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Wisconsin Badgers goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens (Photo by David Stluka)

The top-ranked Wisconsin Badger women’s hockey team is back in the NCAA’s Frozen Four, following their 7-0 win over Robert Morris in Saturday’s quarterfinals at LaBahn Arena.

Freshman MeKenzie Steffan scored two minutes into the game and senior Sarah Nurse added a goal midway through the opening period.

The Badgers then outshot Robert Morris 25-2 in the second period and got goals from Baylee Wellhausen, Maddie Rolfes, Annie Pankowski and Emily Clark.

Clark added a second goal in the third period to cap off the scoring for the Badgers.

Senior Ann-Renee Desbiens earned her 16th shutout of the year and her 10th career postseason shutout for the Badgers (32-2-4).

Wisconsin makes its 10th appearance at the Frozen Four, including their 4th in-a-row.  The Badgers will face Boston College in St. Charles, Missouri on Friday.

 

Badgers claim second straight WCHA regular season title

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Baylee Wellhausen

For the second-straight year, the top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team wrapped up the WCHA regular season title on Senior Day.  The Badgers wrapped up the 2016-17 league title with a 8-0 shutout win over second-ranked Minnesota-Duluth at LaBahn Arena.

Junior forward Baylee Wellhausen scored her first career collegiate hat trick while fellow junior Annie Pankowski tallied a pair of goals in the win.

Senior An-Renee Desbiens earned her 50th career shutout, making 15 saves to earn her NCAA-leading 12th shutout of the season.

The Badgers (26-2-2, 21-2-2-2 WCHA) also earned a 2-1 shootout victory on Saturday over the Bulldogs (20-4-5, 17-4-4-1 WCHA).

Wisconsin closes out the regular season with a series at fifth-ranked Minnesota this weekend.  Faceoff on both Saturday and Sunday is set for 3 p.m.

AUDIO: Baylee Wellhausen on her first career shutout :14

AUDIO: Coach Mark Johnson says it’s not easy to win a regular season title :17

AUDIO: Mark Johnson on clinching league title on Senior Day :20

 

Badger women break their own NCAA hockey attendance mark (AUDIO)

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Badger Head Coach Mark Johnson (Photo by David Stluka)

The top ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team set a new NCAA single game attendance mark in their 2-0 win over St. Cloud State on Saturday afternoon at the Kohl Center.

The Badgers blanked the Huskies 9-0 in the series opener the night before at LaBahn Arena.

The program offered fans $1 tickets and the opportunity to donate non-perishable food items to a local charity and 15,359 of them came out to watch the best women’s team in the country do their thing.

The new record broke the one that the Badgers and Minnesota Gophers set in 2014 at the Kohl Center when 13,573 fans were on hand. [Read more…]

Badger women’s hockey team receives a scare (AUDIO)

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Michaela Johnson

The Lindenwood Ice Rink near St. Louis has reopened after more than 19 women’s hockey players were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning Friday night following Wisconsin’s 5-1 victory over Lindenwood.

Officials originally  believed the cause was malfunctioning humidifiers at the arena, but now believe the ice resurfacing equipment may have leaked carbon monoxide.

A high level of carbon monoxide is measured at a level of 10.  The building was measured at a level of 200.

UW senior Michaela Johnson, the daughter of head coach Mark Johnson, was most affected by the carbon monoxide.  She became ill during the game and was taken to an area hospital, where she was treated and released late Friday night. [Read more…]

Badger women win WCHA title

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Courtney Burke - Photo: Courtesy David Stluka

Courtney Burke – Photo: Courtesy David Stluka

The second-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team scored six goals in the third period to crush Minnesota State 8-1 to win their fifth WCHA regular-season title and first since 2012.

Courtney Burke scored a first period goal and added four assists for the Badgers, becoming the third Badger forward to reach 100 points in her career.

Wisconsin (30-1-1, 24-1-1-1) goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 10 shots to earn her NCAA-leading 28th win of the year.

The Badgers close out the regular season with a two-game series at Minnesota this weekend against the Gophers.

AUDIO: Courtney Burke on winning the WCHA title :13

AUDIO: Emily Clark on winning the WCHA title :11

 

UW athletic board puts the heat on a pair of coaches

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Mike Eaves

Mike Eaves

After tough seasons for the Wisconsin men’s hockey team and the women’s basketball team, the UW Athletic board voted to retain coaches Mike Eaves (hockey) and Bobbie Kelsey (women’s hoops), but didn’t extend their contracts.

Eaves contract expires June 30, 2019 and Kelsey’s runs through May 31, 2019.

Under Eaves, the Badger men’s hockey team finished 4-26-5 last season, the worst record in program history.  After winning an NCAA Championship in 2006 and making the title game in 2010, the Badgers have failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five seasons.

In effect, the board couldn’t reward Eaves with a contract extension after a season like last year.  Eaves also fired his two assistants, Gary Shuchuk and Matt Walsh.

Bobbie Kelsey

Bobbie Kelsey

Kelsey’s Badger women’s basketball team finished 5-11 in the Big Ten and 9-20 overall last season.  Since Kelsey joined the program, Wisconsin has failed to qualify for either the NCAA or the WNIT.

It’s safe to say the Athletic Board is looking for improvement from both programs or their jobs could be in jeopardy.

The board did roll over the five-year contracts of men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan and women’s hockey coach Mark Johnson.  It also rolled over the three-year deal for wrestling coach Barry Davis.

Badger women’s hockey team looking to end drought

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Ann-Renee Desbiens

Ann-Renee Desbiens

The Wisconsin Badgers face off against the rival Minnesota Gophers tonight in the women’s Frozen Four semifinals at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.  The Badgers will be trying not only to get into the Frozen Four championship game, but they’ll be trying to end a 17-game winless streak against the Gophers, dating back to 2011.

The Frozen Four berth is the eighth in the last ten seasons for the Badgers (29-6-4), which is ranked 3rd in the country but seeded fourth in the NCAA field.  The Badgers are shooting for their fifth Frozen Four title.

Minnesota beat the Badgers in last season’s semifinals but lost in the championship game to Clarkson.

The Badgers advanced to the Frozen Four with a 5-1 victory over Boston University in the quarterfinals last weekend. [Read more…]