University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Travel to Madison to Take On UW
10/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
GOPHERS FACE BADGERS IN BORDER BATTLE
Minnesota and Wisconsin will compete in a border battle this weekend in Madison, Wis. The Golden Gophers and Badgers will compete on Friday and Sunday at 2 p.m., at the Kohl Center. Minnesota is 26-19-6 overall against the Badgers, dating back to November of 1999.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
All of the home games and a majority of the road games will be broadcast live on gophersports.com. This weekend, gophersports.com will have both audio of the games against the Badgers. Fans can follow the Gophers through the Gold Zone. For free score updates go to http://twitter.com/gopherscores.
ABOUT THE BADGERS
Wisconsin enters the Minnesota series with a 3-3-0 overall and WCHA record. Wisconsin has split all three of their series, against North Dakota (10/2-3), Bemidji State (10/10-11) and Ohio State (10/23-24). The Badgers, lost a lot from last year’s championship team, including Patty Kazmaier winner Jessie Vetter, who was a staple between the nets. Along with the loss of players to the Olympics, Wisconsin lost its head coach for the season, Mark Johnson, as he is with the U.S. Olympic Team as its head coach. Tracey DeKeyser is holding the interim head coach position for the 2009-10 season. Although the Badgers have lost some of their firepower from last year, they still have dangerous scoring threats in junior Mallory Deluce, who leads the team with five points, and Brooke Ammerman, who is second with four. UW has played two goalies in its first six games of the season in freshman Becca Ruegsegger and senior Alannah McCready. Ruegsegger has played in four games and holds a 2.02 goals against average, while McCready has seen action in two games and holds a 1.50 GAA and a .946 save percentage.
THE LAST TIME AT THE KOHL CENTER
Last year at the Kohl Center, the Gophers tied 1-1 (10/24/08), and fell, 2-1 (10/26/08). Minnesota’s last win on Wisconsin’s home ice came on November 11, 2007 when the Gophers held onto a 3-2 win. Minnesota was up 3-0 after one period. The Badgers scored two power-play goals in the third, but fell short of the comeback for the final.
THE GOPHER DEFENSE
The Gopher goaltenders have not allowed a goal in 189:09 minutes played. Minnesota’s last goal allowed came in the first game against Minnesota Duluth at 10:51 in the third period. Since then, the Gopher defense has not allowed a goal in three straight games. The Gopher record, however, came in 2007-08 when Minnesota held its opponents scoreless in 268:40 when it shut out Bemidji State and Minnesota State in four games.
GETTING SCORING WHERE THEY NEED IT
In eight games played this season, Minnesota is led in scoring by Emily West with 13 points, followed by Chelsey Jones with 10, Sarah Erickson with nine, Laura May with eight and Anne Schleper with seven. In her first eight games of her senior year, Jones has already matched last year’s totals after transferring from Northeastern to Minnesota. Jones had 10 points as a junior last year. In all, 17 Gophers have earned a point this season, including two goaltenders, Alyssa Grogan and Noora Räty.
