2009-10 Season Outlook
The University of Wisconsin women's hockey team and 2009 national champions look to repeat in the 2009-10 season. With head coach Mark Johnson taking a year off to guide the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team, assistant coach Tracey DeKeyser will step in to lead the defending champs.
DeKeyser is no stranger to the program, she has been with UW since its inception and has been at the helm of the program twice before as a co-coach with former assistant Dan Koch. DeKeyser will enlist in the help of UW alums, Peter Johnson and Jackie Friesen, to assist the Badgers in the 2009-10 season.
Three seniors will lead the UW squad, Jasmine Giles will be the team captain and will be assisted by Kyla Sanders and Emily Kranz. All three Badgers are first-time captains but have plenty of experience, suiting up for every game in their three-year career.
With it being an Olympic year, junior Hilary Knight and senior Meghan Duggan will sit out a season to train for the 2010 Olympic Team. Knight led the nation in goals and points while setting three new UW season records with 83 points, 45 goals and 16 power-play goals in her sophomore campaign. The reigning WCHA Player of the Year and first-team All-American had 24 multi-point games and finished the season ranked 10th in UW's career points list with two years of eligibility remaining.
Duggan, a third-team All-WCHA selection and 2008-09 assistant captain, became Wisconsin's all-time NCAA tournament points leader totaling three goals and 11 assists in her last three appearances.
In preparation for the Olympics, USA Hockey hosted a National Festival Camp, which included 11 former and current Badgers on the 41-player roster.
Included on the roster were current student-athletes, Duggan, Knight, sophomore Brooke Ammerman and incoming freshman Brianna Decker.
Beyond losing Knight and Duggan, Wisconsin graduated six seniors from last year's title squad that no doubt made a presence in the Badger lines. The class of 2009 brought home three NCAA titles in four years, while tallying the most wins in the NCAA since 2005-06 with 135.
The UW will replace the vacancy with nine newcomers for the 2009-10 season, including four defensemen, four forwards and a goaltender. The last three seasons the UW has had at least one Badger named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team.
The Badgers return six forwards that scored over 20 points last season; Brooke Ammerman, Jasmine Giles, Mallory Deluce, Kyla Sanders, Carolyne Prevost and Kelly Nash.
Ammerman, a WCHA All-Rookie and Third-Team selection, earned a spot on the WCHA Final Face-off All-Tournament Team and led UW in shot percentage. As the team's top returning scorer, Ammerman finished second on the team in goals and finished the season with 54 points (27g, 27a).
Giles, a senior forward was also named to the WCHA Final Face-off All-Tournament Team and returns as the second leading scorer for the Badgers. Giles tallied 44 points for the season (16g, 29a) and is one of four seniors to lead the 2009-10 squad. Emily Kranz and Sanders return as senior forwards while goaltender Alannah McCready rounds out the senior class.
The Wisconsin attack welcomes four freshmen in Brianna Decker, Breann Frykas, Lauren Unser and Derya Kelter.
The UW will have a young blue line with no seniors, but return with four defensemen in Brittany Haverstock, Olivia Jakiel, Malee Windmeier and Anne Dronen. Wisconsin will add depth to the blue line with three freshmen; Alev Kelter, Saige Pacholok and Stefanie McKeough.
The Badgers will be young in the goaltending position, returning only McCready with game experience. McCready saw action in five games last season, backing up the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner, Jessie Vetter. Competing against McCready for the starting job will be Nikki Kaasa, a redshirt freshman and incoming freshman Becca Ruegsegger. Ruegsegger joins the UW after four years at Shattuck-St. Mary's and experience on the U.S. U-18 team.
The Kelter twins, Alev and Derya, come to UW as multi-sport athletes. They signed with soccer, which means they will miss at least one month of hockey competition before being eligible to play.
The UW schedule is highlighted by the first-ever women's outdoor game. Wisconsin will host Bemidji State out on Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 6. Wisconsin will also go up against two teams from the NCAA Frozen Four, Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth. Wisconsin will also host an exhibition game against Johnson's Team USA on Jan. 5 at the Kohl Center.
