BY AJ HARRISON
UW Athletic Communications
MADISON, Wis. — Another trophy is on the line this weekend in Minneapolis as the No. 1 Badgers eye their third-straight WCHA tournament title at the 2017 WCHA Final Face-Off at Ridder Arena.
The Badgers enter the weekend with an NCAA-leading 18-game unbeaten streak, which includes a sweep of Minnesota State to open the WCHA playoffs. The Badgers blanked the Mavericks, 6-0 and 7-0, to advance to the WCHA Final Face-Off for the seventh-straight year.
"I think this past weekend showed how well our systems and chemistry between each line of forwards and defense has evolved throughout the season," sophomore forward
Sophia Shaver said. "We were able to capitalize on power-play opportunities and kill off all the penalties as well as create offensive chances while playing even strength.
"We have gotten into a groove that will give us confidence going into this weekend."
UW faces a familiar foe in North Dakota, as this weekend's matchup with North Dakota marks the fifth time in the last seven seasons that UW and UND have met in the league semifinals, with both teams taking a pair of games. The Badgers won the last meeting, 4-1, in the 2015 WCHA Final Face-Off en route to winning the league tournament crown.
"North Dakota always gives us a really challenging game," senior alternate captain
Jenny Ryan said. "We will definitely expect a fast and physical game. It's never easy to end a team's season and they are going to be fighting for theirs which means they will be giving us everything they've got, so we need to do the same."
UW took all four games against North Dakota this year, but each game was close. Wisconsin won a pair of one-goal games in the two teams' last series in January.
"I think back at the two games here in Madison, both of them were tight-checking and were sort of like playoff hockey in the regular season," UW head coach
Mark Johnson said. "But I see the games being a little bit different than they were here in Madison."
The winner of Saturday's semifinal meets the winner of the other semifinal between Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth on Sunday in the WCHA Final Face-Off title game at 2 p.m. Sunday's championship can be seen on Fox Sports Wisconsin and Fox Sports North.
The winner of this weekend's WCHA Final Face-Off earns an automatic berth into this year's NCAA tournament field, which will be announced on Sunday at 8 p.m.
"I know we're in a good position," Johnson said about the NCAA tournament. "But my job is to make sure the team's ready to play Saturday afternoon and that's where we'll start Monday afternoon in practice."
