No. 1 Badgers open season at St. Cloud State
September 22, 2016 | Women's Hockey
Wisconsin takes on Huskies on Friday and Saturday
The 17th season of Wisconsin women's hockey kicks off this weekend as the top-ranked Badgers head west to St. Cloud, Minnesota, to take on St. Cloud State. Puck drop is slotted for 6 p.m. (CT) on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday.
| Series 1 | #1 Wisconsin vs. St. Cloud State | |
| Date | Friday, September 23 | 6 p.m. (CT) Saturday, September 24 | 3 p.m. |
| Location | St. Cloud, Minn. | National Hockey Center |
| Watch | Stretch Internet ($) |Â Watch Live |
| Listen | KVSC |Â Listen Live |
| Follow | Live Stats | @BadgerWHockey |
| Game Notes | Wisconsin | St. Cloud State |
Team Notes
The Badgers are undefeated in their last six season openers, and are coming off a fantastic 2015-16 campaign, where they posted an overall record of 35-4-1 (24-3-1 WCHA). Making its ninth Frozen Four appearance in 11 seasons, UW also won its second-consecutive WCHA tournament title.
The returning players accounted for 87 percent of the total goals scored by UW last season, as well as 75 percent of the total assists. Overall, Wisconsin's returning players for this season tallied 77 percent of the total points from 2015-16.
Player Notes
Annie Pankowski, a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-10 finalist in 2015-16, leads the offensive charge for UW after notching 22 goals and 36 assists for a team-leading 58 points last season. After assisting the first goal of the Badgers' 6-0 win over Mercyhurst, Pankowski became the 21st UW player to record 100 career points. Pankowski is just the fourth player in program history to reach 100 points as a sophomore, joining Brianna Decker, Meghan Hunter, and Hilary Knight.
Junior Emily Clark looks to build off a successful sophomore campaign, where she recorded 24 goals and 21 assists for 45 points. A member of the 2016 Final Face-off All-Tournament Team, Clark also earned All-WCHA Second Team and WCHA All-Academic Team honors.
Senior Sarah Nurse finished the 2015-16 season with a team-leading 25 goals and 13 assists for 38 points. Nurse led the team with 228 shots on goal, and was named to the All-WCHA Third Team.Â
Ann-Renée Desbiens, a 2015-16 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-three finalist, had a record-setting junior season, where she rewrote NCAA history after recording a goals-against average of 0.76, a save percentage of .960, and 21 shutouts. Desbiens was named the 2015-16 USCHO.com Player of the Year, as well as the WCHA Player of the Year. In addidtion to these accolades, Desbiens was recently named the 2016-17 WCHA Preseason Player of the Year.
Senior Jenny Ryan will anchor the blueline for Wisconsin this season, ranking 10th all-time in scoring among UW defensemen. In 2015-16, Ryan tallied eight goals and 24 assists for 32 points.Â
Senior Sydney McKibbon will captain the Badgers this year, with Ann-Renée Desbiens, Sarah Nurse, and Jenny Ryan serving as alternates.
38Â - Ann-Renée Desbiens enters the 2016-17 season with 38 career shutouts, the third-most in NCAA history. Desbiens needs only one more blank slate to match Jessie Vetter's school record and five to match the NCAA career shutout record.
The Series vs. St. Cloud State
This weeken'ds series marks the 77th and 78th times that the Badgers and Huskies have met in program history.
The Badgers lead the all-time series with the Huskies 68-8-2. Wisconsin enters the weekend with a seven-game winning streak against St. Cloud State. During the streak, UW has outscored SCSU 27-2.
The Badgers outscored the Huskies 13-0 last season as Sarah Nurse scored four goals, including three short-handed efforts, in only three games against SCSU.Â
Last time vs. St. Cloud State: Wisconsin 3, St. Cloud State 0 (Jan. 31, 2016)
Behind two goals from Emily Clark and Ann-Renée Desbiens' 14th shutout of the year, the No. 2 Wisconsin women's hockey team earned its 20th-consecutive home win on Sunday, topping St. Cloud, 3-0, at LaBahn Arena.
Desbiens tied the school record for shutouts in a season, making 13 saves to earn her 24th win of the season for the Badgers (26-1-1, 20-1-1-1 WCHA).
The La Malbaie, Quebec, native now has 31 career shutouts, passing former UW netminder Alex Rigsby and former New Hampshire goaltender Melissa Bourdon for third on the NCAA all-time list.
Only Minnesota's Noora Raty (43) and UW legend Jessie Vetter (39) have more career shutouts than Desbiens.
This season, Desbiens leads the nation with a .966 save percentage and a 0.62 goals-against average through her 26 games played. The Badgers also lead the nation's scoring defense, allowing only 0.57 goals per contest as UW has shutout its opposition in 16 of its 28 games this year.
Junior Sarah Nurse scored the game-winning goal for Wisconsin, while Clark notched two third-period insurance goals against the Huskies (11-13-3, 7-12-3-3 WCHA).
Both squads went scoreless through the first frame, despite Wisconsin outshooting the Huskies, 12-4, through 20 minutes.
Nurse's short-handed goal came five minutes into the second frame to give Wisconsin the 1-0 lead. Senior Rachel Jones was called for high sticking, but St. Cloud's player-advantage couldn't stop Nurse from skating the length of the ice and shooting a dagger over SCSU netminder Katie Fitzgerald's glove.
Nurse leads the Badgers with 20 goals, ranking sixth nationally in goals per game. Nurse is also tied for second nationally in short-handed goals with all three of her short-handed tallies coming against the Huskies.
The Badgers outshot St. Cloud 16-1 in the final frame, capitalizing on the wide shot margin with a pair of goals from Clark. Her first goal came after freshman Sam Cogan skated in and then dished a centering pass to Clark for an open shot to the net.
Clark's second opportunity came again from Cogan, but this time off of a rebound. Clark picked up the rebound from Cogan's initial shot, turned and fired on Fitzgerald to give the Badgers the 3-0 lead.
Sophomore Annie Pankowski also assisted both of the goals, her season point total now at 44 points from 17 goals and 27 assists. Last season, Pankowski tallied 43 points in her freshman campaign to be named the USCHO.Com Rookie of the Year.
The Badgers travel next to Ohio State this Friday and Saturday for a WCHA matchup. Friday's game is set for a 6 p.m. CT start while Saturday's game starts at 3 p.m.
Badgers Tabbed as WCHA Preseason Favorite
The Badgers were picked to win the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, according to a preseason poll of league coaches.
The defending WCHA regular season and tournament champions, UW earned 48 points and six first-place votes, while Minnesota collected 44 points and two first-place votes to finish second in the coaches poll.
North Dakota (36) and Minnesota Duluth (30) were slotted to finished third and fourth, respectively, in the WCHA. Rounding out the poll was Bemidji State (27), St. Cloud State (16), Ohio State (13), and Minnesota State (10). Coaches could not vote for their own teams.Â
Badgers start season No. 1 in USCHO poll
Wisconsin will start the 2016-17 season ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division I Women's Poll, as announced by the organization on Monday.
The Badgers recieved 143 votes in the poll, along with 10 of the 15 first-place votes. This marks the first time that the Badgers will start the season ranked No. 1 overall since the 2011-12 season.
Along with Wisconsin, fellow WCHA members Minnesota and North Dakota also earned a top-10 ranking in the poll. Two-time defending NCAA champion Minnesota begins the season ranked second, receiving 135 points, while North Dakota comes in at sixth, earning 60 points.
Five Badgers invited to 2016 Hockey Canada Fall Festival
Current Wisconsin women's hockey players Emily Clark, Ann-Renée Desbiens, and Sarah Nurse, along with Badger alums Meaghan Mikkelson and Blayre Turnbull, earned invites to the 2016 Hockey Canada Fall Festival.
The camp began on Sept. 11 in Calgary, Alberta, and wrapped up on Sunday.
All five Badgers competed on Team White, who edged Team Red, 3-2, in the second game of the festival for an intrasquad split.
Nurse and Clark each tallied a goal and an assist in Team White's opening game of the week, while Desbiens picked up a pair of victories during the camp.
Note of the Week
For the first time in program history, the Badgers completed a perfect home slate, going 21-0-0 at LaBahn Arena in 2015-16. Wisconsin also sold out 12 games during the 2015-16 season, a program record. UW averaged 2,018 fans per contest last year.
In the News:
- Madison.Com - Intensity of national team camps carries into season
- Excelle Sports - Wisconsin senior goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens earn WCHA preseason honors
- Wisconsin State Journal -Â Badgers women's hockey: Preseason poll delivers No. 1 ranking
- Excelle Sports - Q&A with Ex-Wisconsin hockey player Brittany Ammerman on Kenyan women's soccer league
- The Badger Herald -Â Women's hockey: Wisconsin graduates trailblazing future of professional women's hockey
The Quest for 400
Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson enters this weekend with a 395-75-35Â record in his 13 years on the UW bench. His 395Â wins are the third-most in NCAA Division I women's hockey history.
Johnson is only five wins away from becoming the third NCAA Division I women's hockey coach ever to win 400 games.
The other three coaches to reach 350 wins at the NCAA Division I level are Katey Stone (Harvard), Michael Sisti (Mercyhurst) and Shannon Miller (Minnesota Duluth).
Johnson passed former UMD bench boss Shannon Miller for third on the NCAA list on Sunday with the team's 3-1 win over North Dakota.
