Fresh off its highest ranking in program history, the No. 6 Bemidji State University women’s hockey team will face its highest ranked opponent of the season. The Beavers (6-0-2, 3-0-1 WCHA) continue Western Collegiate Hockey Association play by traveling to No. 3/2 University of Wisconsin (4-0-0, 2-0-0 WCHA) on Friday and Saturday.
Bemidji State continued its hot start to the season this past weekend by upsetting, then ranked No. 6, University of North Dakota. The Beavers took four out of a possible six points from UND when they played to an 0-0 tie but loss in the shootout Friday, and then defeated North Dakota 2-1 Saturday, when Alexis Joyce scored the game-winning goal with seven seconds left in overtime.
Wisconsin enters the weekend as the third/second ranked team in the nation, and is tied with No. 1 University of Minnesota for the top spot in the WCHA. The Badgers return home after sweeping St. Cloud State University in a series where they didn’t allow a goal to the Huskies. So far this season, the Badgers have only allowed two goals, and have outscored their opponents 35-2.
The Badgers have the first and second ranked scoring defense and offense, respectively. Wisconsin ranks second in the nation by scoring 5.83 goals per game and rank first by limiting its opponents to just 0.33 goals per game. The Badgers outscore their opponents by 5.5 goals per game, the second highest mark in the NCAA. Wisconsin also has one of the top special teams units in the nation by converting on five of 24 (.208) chances on the power play (9th) and stopping 21 of 22 (.955) chances on the penalty kill (2nd).
Wisconsin has two, high-level, scorers who rank in the top 10 in points per game. Sophomore Annie Pankowski leads the Badgers scoring by averaging 2.17 (6th) points per game followed by junior Sarah Nurse (7th) with 2.00 points per game. UW also has one of the top scorers from the blue-line in Jenny Ryan who stands in third at 1.33 points per game.
Ann-Renée Desbiens stands in front of the Badgers net and has been near perfect for Wisconsin. In five games, and 279:50 minutes, Desbiens has only allowed two goals and has made 64 saves. Those marks are good enough for the second best goals against average (0.43) and save percentage (.970) in the nation.