Badgers Look To Exceed Expectations Again
With a roster that included 16 walk-ons, the first team to don the Wisconsin women's ice hockey sweater far exceeded expectations. An eight-game winning streak, a final top-10 ranking in U.S. College Hockey's Pairwise Ranking, a third-place WCHA finish and a 19-win season all support those sentiments.
The Badgers went 19-14-2 (.571), playing 14 contests against top-10 opponents, and 15-8-1 (.646) against WCHA competition. It will not get any easier for the UW in 2000-01, however, with the Badgers facing perennial powers Harvard, Brown and Providence away from Madison, upstart Minnesota-Duluth and defending national champion Minnesota.
Opening night for Badger women's hockey was an event with 3,892 fans crowding the Kohl Center, including Cammi Granato, Karyn Bye, and Gov. Tommy Thompson. The second-largest women's ice hockey crowd watched the Badgers take an early lead on their first shot, but the Badgers faithful would have to wait until Oct. 15 and a game at Ohio State for the program's first win.
The second year for the Badgers may prove an even greater challenge as the teams in the WCHA improve. The UW was one of three first-year squads and only one of the league teams had been around for more than two seasons. The Badgers will look to build on their first season in 2000-01 and continue the climb into the ranks of the women's college hockey elite.
Two members of the inaugural squad were lost to graduation, and eight others left for various reasons. The UW will welcome four new scholarship student-athletes and at least three walk-ons to the second year of its program.
Returning for the Badgers will be three all-WCHA players, including goaltender Jackie MacMillan and defender Sis Paulsen fro the first team, and defender Kerry Weiland from the second. Also returning are Badger and WCHA Tournament-leading-scorer Kelly Kegley, and 2000-01 co-captain Michelle Sikich.
The Badgers second recruiting class of four will join the returners giving the team improved depth. Forwards Meghan Hunter, Stephanie Millar and Karen Rickard, and defender Nicole Uliasz will make up the new group.
Forwards
Sophomores Kelly Kegley and Kendra Antony shared the team lead in scoring last season, both totalling 45 points. The two centered the top two lines and saw time together on what became an effective power play (21.0%). Kegley, who missed the first six games of last season, led the team with 26 goals, including four hat tricks, and earned WCHA Rookie of the Week once. She also tallied eight points at the WCHA Tournament, pacing all tournament scorers. Antony scored the first four goals in program history, leading the team in scoring most of the season. She played her best hockey against the best teams, with 16 points in 14 games against ranked opponents.
Junior captain Michelle Sikich also returns for her second season after putting up 38 points in 29 games. Sikich began last season on the blue line, but moved to offense and flourished, leading the team with two short-handed goals.
Walk-ons played a vital role in the offense last season, and will again as Melanie Schmitt's 13 points and Natascha Sherman's 11 will find a place in the line-up. Julia Ortenzio, Liz Jankowski, Jen Mead and Sarah Repp will complete the returning crew.
Canadians Meghan Hunter and Karen Rickard, along with Wisconsinite Stephanie Millar, bring some added depth to the Badger scoring attack. Hunter served as assistant captain of the provincial-champion Bluewater Hawks last year after seeing time on Team Ontario and the London Devilettes in 1998 and ?99. Rickard comes from the highly respected North York Junior Aeros program, while Millar's roots stem from the Minnesota Thoroughbreds, former team of current Badger goaltender Jackie McMillan.
Defense
The Badgers return two stars from the 1999-00 season in all-WCHA defenders Sis Paulsen and Kerry Weiland. Paulsen will serve as co-captain after leading all WCHA defenders in conference scoring. She finished third in the nation in power-play scoring and fourth in defense scoring. She also ranked third on the Badgers with 17 goals and 27 assists for 44 points. Weiland, perhaps the UW's most exciting player, totaled 10 goals and 25 assists while wowing Madison crowds with her stick-handling.
Also returning is sophomore Gretchen Anderson, who walked-on to the Badgers and steadied the defense. She registered six assists, with three of the six setting up game-winning goals.
Newcomer Nicole Uliasz will solidify the defensive corps, joining Wisconsin after captaining The Taft School in Connecticut. During the 1998-99 season, the frosh tallied 46 points on 26 goals and 20 assists in 24 games after scoring 59 as a forward in the 1997-98 campaign. Also a member of the Connecticut Polar Bears, Uliasz helped the squad to the 1999 national title.
Goaltenders
Wisconsin returns the First-Team all-WCHA goaltender in Jackie MacMillan, as well as sophomore Jen Neary, who recorded the first solo shutout in school history. MacMillan, who was selected to the 2000 Under-22 U.S. National Team, was outstanding, going 13-6-1 with a 2.94 goals against and .901 save percentage. The sophomore had a personal 11-game winning streak and 12-game unbeaten string despite fighting through injury the entire season. She earned back-to-back conference honors with WCHA Player and Rookie of the week accolades in successive weeks in February.
Jen Neary jumped out to a 3-0-0 record, but finished the season at 3-5-0 after ending the season against seven-straight ranked opponents. The Dallas, Texas native proved her worth with a stellar 44-save loss at No. 5 Minnesota-Duluth and solid play during injuries to MacMillan and the since-departed Chanda Gunn. She will once again see action in a back-up role.
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