2007-08 Season Outlook
In 2006, the University of Wisconsin women's hockey team tied an NCAA record with 36 wins and claimed its first national championship in program history. Last season, UW returned to the Frozen Four to defend its title. Playing in Lake Placid, N.Y., home to the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team, Mark Johnson's Badgers won the 2007 National Championship, breaking or tying 18 NCAA records along the way to conclude one of the greatest seasons in women's college hockey history.
The 2007-08 edition of the Badgers will look to three-peat, as they return 15 letterwinners from last season's championship squad which set an NCAA record with a .927 winning percentage. Leading the team's march to the 2008 Frozen Four in Duluth, Minn., will be captain Emily Morris, and assistant captains Jessie Vetter and Jinelle Zaugg.
Gone is Sara Bauer, a two-time first-team All-American, who leaves UW holding 17 single season and career records as well as being named the 2007 Frozen Four's Most Outstanding Player. The Wisconsin record holder for career points and assists, Bauer was a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier trophy last season, a year after winning the award in 2006. Bauer is one of six departing seniors whose leadership helped guide the program to the pinnacle of college hockey, including forwards Phoebe Monteleone and Heidi Kletzien. The defense, which set NCAA records for fewest goals allowed per game (0.88), fewest goals allowed (36) and most shutouts (18) last season, will have to deal with the losses of captain Bobbi-Jo Slusar, WCHA Defensive Player of the Year Meaghan Mikkelson and goaltender Christine Dufour.
Stepping in to fill those spots will be seven newcomers that will compete for playing time this season including forwards Mallory Deluce, Hilary Knight and Kelly Nash. On defense are Anne Dronen, Olivia Jakiel and Malee Windmeier while goaltender Krista Tatum will also be joining the Badgers in 2007.
After a year where UW became the first school in NCAA men's or women's hockey history to have two goalies finish the season with a goals-against average below 1.00, the goaltender position will again be a strong point for the Badgers in 2007-08. Jessie Vetter, a member of the Frozen Four All-Tournament Team and first-team All-American, will again be between the pipes for the Badgers. Vetter's 15 career shutouts leaves her only three behind the school record of 18. Last season she ranked first nationally in goals-against average (0.83), second in save percentage (.953) and third in winning percentage (.896) with a record of 20-10-3.
Also returning will be sophomore Alannah McCready, while freshman Krista Tatum will also look for time in net for the Badgers.
In front of Vetter, four skaters return to a defense that allowed only 10 goals in the final 21 games last season including seniors Mikka Nordby and Emily Morris, and juniors Alycia Matthews and Rachel Bible.
Matthews, who recorded her first career postseason point on the game-winning goal against Harvard in the NCAA quarterfinals, contributed eight assists in 41 games last season. Morris and Bible will both be staples of the defense after appearing in every game for the Badgers in 2007-08.
Also on defense will be redshirt freshman Ally Strickler and newcomers Anne Dronen, Olivia Jakiel, and Malee Windmeier.
In the offensive end, senior Jinelle Zaugg will lead a Badger attack that led the nation in power-play conversion rate last season and averaged more than 4.00 goals scored per game. Zaugg has steadily improved since arriving in Madison as she has scored over 20 goals in the past two seasons, including a team-high 29 last year. It could also be a record-setting season for the second-team All-WCHA member as Zaugg is currently fourth on the career goals list with 65, just 19 shy of the school record.
Joining Zaugg up front will be a slew of juniors that includes Erika Lawler, Angie Keseley, Kayla Hagen and Tia Hanson. Lawler and Keseley had very impressive years in 2006. Lawler led all UW sophomores with 38 points while recording seven multi-assist games and one multi-goal game. Keseley also impressed, as she scored 12 goals and recorded six multi-point games.
Also returning will be sophomore Meghan Duggan who will be looking to build upon her impressive rookie season. The WCHA Rookie of the Year was second on the team in points with 52, while earning second-team All-WCHA honors.
Three freshmen, Mallory Deluce, Kelly Nash, and Hilary Knight, will also vie for playing time up front. A native of Hanover, N.H., Knight headlines head coach Mark Johnson's 2007 recruiting class. The 5-10 United States senior national team member was the youngest player on the U.S. squad at the 207 IIHF World Women's Championship last April and also earned a spot on the roster for the Four Nations Cup. Johnson led both of those teams, which each claimed the silver medal.
Johnson, the AHCA National Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons, will be in his sixth year as the head coach of the Badgers. Since taking over in 2002, he has an astonishing 147-28-14 record, making him the winningest active coach in NCAA women's hockey by winning percentage (.815).
The Badgers will need Johnson's leadership to guide them through a tough non-conference schedule that includes a trip to Durham, N.H., to face the Wildcats of New Hampshire, who ended last season ranked fourth nationally.
Wisconsin, which tied an NCAA record with 19 home wins last season, will try to defend its WCHA title when it opens up the season at Union. Last year, the Kohl Center was home to the highest average attendance in the nation with 1,362 fans per game.
After a 2007 NCAA Championship rematch versus Minnesota Duluth, the Badgers spend seven weeks away from the Kohl Center before facing North Dakota at home to end the first half of the season. The WCHA regular season title could go down to the wire as the Badgers visit rivals Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota in the final three weeks of the regular season.