Potent offense has guided UW this season
MADISON – The résumé of the Wisconsin women’s hockey team is as storied as they come.
Seven national championships. Fourteen trips to the Frozen Four. Ten WCHA tournament championships. Eighteen NCAA Tournament berths.
With one of the most explosive offenses in program history, the Badgers could add to that list of accomplishments over the next nine days.
Wisconsin (33-5) heads into its NCAA regional against St. Lawrence (28-10) at 2 p.m. Saturday at LaBahn Arena leading the nation in a handful of categories thanks to a deep core of high-level players, many of whom are having their best seasons as Badgers.
“From top to bottom this is such a talented group from offense to defense,” sophomore Kirsten Simms said. “And not only our on-ice ability, but we’re just so close off the ice. That helps create such a unique culture off the ice and it leads to how successful we are on the ice.”
Wisconsin enters the weekend leading the nation in goals (198), assists (318), scoring offense (5.21) and team points (546). The assists and team point totals are already single-season program records. Wisconsin’s plus/minus rating of +569 is also on track to be a record.
The single-season record for goals (212) may be out of reach, but at the moment UW’s goals per game average (5.21) is ahead of the record set during the 201011 season (5.17).
“I think at the beginning of the year we looked at everyone we’ve got and the staff that we’ve got and we recognized how great we could be,” senior Casey O’Brien said. “It was all about putting the puzzle pieces together, the lines or whatever, and I think we’ve been trying to figure that out the entire year. But there has never been a doubt that we can be the best team in the country.”
Kirsten Simms, Casey O’Brien make prolific 1-2 punch
O’Brien and Simms have been at the heart of the Badgers’ production. Simms leads the nation with 71 points (32 goals, 39 assists). O’Brien is No. 2 in that category with 69 points (22, 47) while leading the nation in assists.
The two have been linemates all season and have built a unique chemistry that not only led to prolific statistics, but also to both becoming finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, which is given to the top player in Division I each year.
This marks the first year Wisconsin had had two players among the three finalists.
“They’ve earned it,” Badgers coach Mark Johnson said. “They’ve showcased that they can play at a real high level in very meaningful games. Similar to our team they’ve earned the right to be it that
position.”
Seven Badgers invited to national team evaluation camp
Wisconsin’s talent is respected by the national team. Five of the six players on the Badgers’ top two lines have Team USA experience.
Each is among the 39 players who have been invited to U.S. women’s national team evaluation camp at the end of the month that will be used to help determine the team for the world championships in April.
No college team has more current players represented than Wisconsin with seven: Simms, O’Brien, Britta Curl, Lacey Eden, Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey and Anna Wilgren.
Simms, O’Brien, Curl, who is fifth in the nation with 61 points, Eden (10th, 56) and Edwards (14th, 51) are having their highest-scoring seasons at UW. Harvey, who ranks 21st in scoring with five goals and 30 assists, is close despite missing nine games due to injuries.
Johnson attributed the team’s production to a strong start to the season and a key stretch before Christmas break that included six straight games against top-10 opponents.
That work has put Wisconsin on the doorstep of another trip to the national semifinals.
“Even though we lost some of those games, that’s part of the process and understanding what I need to do to push myself to become better,” he said. “Individually we’ve been able to do that with a lot of different players and if they’re willing to do that then collectively as a whole you become better.”