No. 6 Badgers continue homestand with non-conference matchup

Wisconsin hosts Robert Morris in its first non-conference series of the season

The Badgers enter the series after sweeping second-ranked Minnesota.

Nov. 4, 2009

MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin women’s hockey team continues its homestand with its first non-conference action of the season. Wisconsin jumped right into conference action, with four straight WCHA series to start the season. UW will face Robert Morris on Friday and Saturday at the Kohl Center, both games starting at 2 p.m.

About the series
Wisconsin is 4-0-0 all time against RMU. The last time UW faced Robert Morris was from Oct. 5-6, 2007. The Badgers swept the Colonials 3-0 and 3-1 in the two-game series. The only other time the two teams met was from Dec. 1-2, 2006 at Robert Morris when the Badgers defeated the Colonials 10-5 and 5-0 to capture the series sweep.

Last time out
The Badgers earned their first series sweep of the season against second-ranked Minnesota. The sweep halted the Gophers eight-game undefeated streak and marked the first time a team has swept Minnesota in a series since Minnesota Duluth swept the Gophers on Feb. 17-18, 2007. The Badgers had its highest scoring output of the season with a 4-2 win on Friday and a 5-2 victory on Sunday. Sophomore Brooke Ammerman had three goals and an assist over the weekend as freshman goaltender Becca Ruegsegger put up 64 saves, including a season-high 38 saves in the finale for her first series sweep.

Badger notes (5-3-0, 5-3-0 WCHA)
Wisconsin had its first series sweep over No. 2 Minnesota to mark a three-game unbeaten streak. With the win, the Badgers move within two points of Minnesota, in sole possession of second place.

The series sweep over Minnesota is the first time since Jan. 5-6, 2007 that Wisconsin has swept the Gophers.

The Badgers have struggled on the power play going 2-for-44 on the man advantage. Kelly Nash and Brooke Ammerman are the only Badgers to score a power-play goal this season.

Wisconsin leads the nation on the penalty kill with a 97.3 percent success rate going 36-for-37 on the kill. The only power-play goal the Badgers allowed was against second-ranked Minnesota.

Wisconsin has taken five penalty shots in the program’s history, including Brooke Ammerman’s this season against Ohio State. Ammerman is the first Badger to score on a penalty shot. The first time a team scored on UW with a penalty shot was Feb. 14, 2009 when Nina Tikkinen of Minnesota State scored on Jessie Vetter.

The Badgers 5-3-0 overall and conference record matches the total number of losses from the 2006-07 and 2008-09 season combined. However, in the 2007-08 season the Badgers suffered nine losses overall but still managed an NCAA runner-up finish.

Ruegsegger had a shutout in her first collegiate start and has recorded a 4-2-0 record this season. Ruegsegger has 146 saves and a .924 save percentage with a 2.01 goals-against average. Senior Alannah McCready (1-1-0) has allowed three goals holding a .946 save percentage with 53 saves.

The Badgers have netted 23 goals by 13 different Badgers. Wisconsin has out-shot opponents in every game but one this season outshooting opponents 257-214.

Already all of UW’s 18 skaters that dress regularly have contributed a point this season. Brooke Ammerman is the team’s leading scorer with eight points (4g, 4a) followed by Mallory Deluce, who leads the team with five goals (5g, 2a).

Deluce is working on a five-game goal streak which also includes two assists in that time. Ammerman has a five-game scoring streak; both streaks come after a three-game scoreless streak for the two Badgers.

Saige Pacholok and Stefanie McKeough have been positive assets to the Badger defense. The Badger freshmen lead the defense in plus/minus with a plus-six and a plus-five rating, respectively.

Ruegsegger had 18 saves to shut out the Fighting Sioux in her first collegiate start. The last Badger to earn a shutout in her first collegiate start was current senior Alannah McCready against Union College on Sept. 29, 2007. McCready, who had appeared in just one game prior to that start, had 14 saves in the 11-0 shutout win as a sophomore.

Freshmen did all the work in UW’s first win of the season. Freshman Brianna Decker had Wisconsin’s first goal of the season, also marking her first multi-goal game as she lit the lamp twice in UW’s 3-0 win. Freshman Lauren Unser scored for Wisconsin in just her second shift as a Badger to cap the scoring for UW, while Ruegsegger played in net.

Wisconsin lost eight players from the 2009 championship squad, including its top four leading scorers from a year ago. Six Badgers graduated including Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner Jessie Vetter. Wisconsin also lost the nation’s leading scorer, Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan to train with the U.S. Women’s National Team.

The Badgers first NCAA title came during an Olympic year in 2006 when the Badgers went 36-4-1.

The Kelter twins, Alev and Derya, come to UW as multi-sport athletes. They signed with soccer, which means they are not eligible to play hockey until soccer season is over. The Wisconsin women’s soccer team has concluded the regular season but are looking at an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament which will be announced on Monday, Nov. 9.

The UW schedule is highlighted by the first-ever Wisconsin women’s hockey outdoor game. Wisconsin will host Bemidji State out on Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. for the Culver’s Camp Randall Hockey Classic. The game precedes the Wisconsin men’s hockey team who will take on Michigan at 5 p.m. Wisconsin will also host an exhibition game against Johnson’s Team USA on Jan. 5 at the Kohl Center.

Scouting the opponent
Robert Morris (3-5-0, 0-0-0 CHA)
The Colonials, members of College Hockey America, enter the weekend after an extra week of rest. The last time Robert Morris competed was from Oct. 23-24 when they swept Maine on the road in a two-game series.

In the first of the game of the series, the Colonials defeated Maine 3-1 and outshot the Black Bears 32-19. In the second game of the weekend, RMU’s Kelsey Thomas tallied the overtime goal against Maine to secure the 1-0 victory and the series sweep. Goaltender Daneca Butterfield had 28 saves in the overtime win as Maine outshot RMU 29-18

Robert Morris has also picked up a win over then-No. 4 Minnesota Duluth. After dropping the first game of the series, the Colonials came out and shocked the Bulldogs with a dominating 4-1 victory at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center to split the series. The Colonials have played five games against ranked opponents going 1-4-0.

Junior Sara O’Malley leads the team in points, tallying five goals and three assists. Sophomore Brianna Delaney has stepped up for the Colonials with three goals and four assists in the first eight games of the season.

Women’s hockey on the Big Ten Network
The Big Ten Network announced it will web stream all Wisconsin women’s hockey games, excluding the Bemidji State series, for a charge of $2.99 per game. UWBadgers.com will not stream the home women's hockey games except for the Culver’s Camp Randall Hockey Classic and the second game of the series with Bemidji State.