University of Wisconsin 2005-06 Women's Hockey Outlook
Each year under head coach Mark Johnson, Wisconsin has won more games and has positioned itself closer to a national championship than the previous year.
The Badgers wrote program history with its first NCAA postseason berth, March 13, 2005 and though falling in the first round of the tournament (March 19), the team showed they were capable of great things. The Badgers now look to the 2005-06 season with experience and a determination to continue moving closer to the ultimate goal.
"Last year was another step in the right direction in regards to trying to win an NCAA championship," said Johnson. "They got a taste of what it's like to be in the NCAA tournament and you hope that it was a learning experience and it will springboard us as we start this season.
"With the momentum we had going into the end of the season, I thought the last five or six weeks we played as well as we had all year and as well as anyone in the country. It was a good way to finish off. Of course we wanted to win a couple more games, but so did everyone else."
After the departure of five seniors from last year's roster, including All-Americans and Olympic hopefuls Molly Engstrom and Carla MacLeod, as well as Nicole Uliasz on the blueline, power forward Jackie Friesen and all-around athlete Amy Vermeulen, the returning Badgers have large shoes to fill. Stepping into leadership roles this season are seniors Sharon Cole and Nikki Burish as captain and assistant captain, respectively, with junior scoring sensation Sara Bauer also serving as assistant captain. Supporting the captains are three other seniors*Meghan Horras, Grace Hutchins and Cyndy Kenyon*with experience and character to solidify the team's new identity.
"Anytime you have changes and you lose seniors and bring in freshmen, your team identity is going to be different than it was the last year," said Johnson. "So what this team is going to look like*time will tell. But I think the upperclassmen and the captains understand what it takes to get to where they want to go."
Six players that will change the landscape of the Badger lineup are newcomers, Angie Keseley and Kayla Hagen, two top goal-scorers out of Minnesota; Erika Lawler, a 5-0 forward from Massachusetts; Alycia Matthews and Tia Hanson from Canada and Rachel Bible from central Wisconsin.
"Angie was one of the top scorers in Minnesota, along with Kayla and they are both very gifted players and both very competitive with good skill and good offensive capabilities," said Johnson. "I know they are excited about coming and being part of the program. I know they've worked hard this summer and I'm anxious to see them in a Badger uniform. I think people that come watch our games are certainly going to notice Erika. She may not be tall in stature, but she gets around the ice and is extremely competitive and a fun player to watch. The six players we have coming in are going to be noticed right away because not only will they competing for spots, they will be playing."
With two years and 88 points, Bauer is the team's top returning scorer and will be complemented by a healthy Burish and Cole as well as younger players like Jinelle Zaugg who led the freshman scoring drive with 26 points in 2004*05. The Badgers will look to these players, among others, to generate goal production.
"It's funny because everyone says we're a defense-oriented team but you look at our statistics and we were the third-leading scoring team in the country last season, forget about the league, the country," commented Johnson. "You just can't get complacent in this business. You have to always try to look for improvement and try to become better and hopefully the playing production will increase."
Beyond scoring goals, the team will rely on some junior defenders to keep UW's opponents out of the game. With the loss of three key blueliners, the Badgers will turn to Canadian U-22 team member Bobbi-Jo Slusar as well as Kristin Witting and co-team rookie of the year Emily Morris to provide experience and guidance for Matthews and Bible.
"It's difficult to immediately replace major player-makers," commented Johnson. "But I think we have a couple people who are capable of getting out of the shadows of those players that are gone and creating their own identity within the program."
As a final line of defense, Johnson's netminders will be competing for minutes. With record-setting senior Meghan Horras, a healthy Christine Dufour and redshirt freshman Jessie Vetter all in the mix, the UW's net is sure to be secure, but with who is the question.
"Obviously competition and playing time is going to be at a premium for the three of them," said Johnson. "We'll have some tough decisions to make, but I think all three players have good character and understand the importance of being a team player and hopefully each of them will be able to bring something to the team."
Johnson is also confident that all three have worked out and conditioned themselves through the summer and will be ready if necessary to stop more pucks that may have been blocked by the departed All-American blueliners in the past.
While Wisconsin prepares through the preseason, the major note around the country is the departure of many schools' underclassmen taking the year away to prepare for and compete in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. On the conference level, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association looks to be as even as it has ever been.
"We lost a couple key players, Minnesota lost a big chunk of their offense, Duluth lost a key player, so top to bottom it will be very close, which is good for the league," commented Johnson. "It is good for the teams and it is going to be very competitive. In years past you might have been able to say, `Oh yeah, this team will beat that team,' or vice versa, but this year it's going to be interesting because I think we're going to see more splits on weekends series than we have in the history of the league. It will make for a fun January and February as we get closer to the WCHA tournament."
The Badgers jump into league play right away with perennial rival Minnesota Duluth. Wisconsin knocked the Bulldogs out the WCHA tournament in the teams' last meeting. An intense overtime goal by Cole advanced UW to the championship game and left UMD to play the third-place game. With two of the top teams in the conference facing off straight out of training camp, the Badgers will have to be diligent in training camp.
"We have to come out of training camp feeling good and ready to go," said Johnson. "We don't have any time to experiment and so we'll get off the floor and be running right away. Even though those two games are early, they could really play a big role as you go down towards the end of the season."
All in all, it looks to be a positive season for the Badgers and women's hockey. The U.S. and Canadian Olympic teams will tour throughout the U.S. and Canada in preparation for the February Olympic Games. One tour stop for Team USA includes a series against the WCHA All-Stars. The 2005 WCHA All-Star Team will be coached by Johnson and will face Team USA in Minneapolis and Duluth, Minn., the final weekend of September.
"The exposure standpoint for women's hockey should be real good this year," said Johnson. "When we get into February, we'll get an opportunity to watch the Games on TV with everybody else in the country. In general, there are a lot of exciting things happening in hockey, the NHL is back playing. It will be a fun winter."
-- by Jenn Werner
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