There might only be two baseball teams left in this week’s World Series, but the WCHA is no longer a two-team conference.<\/p>\n
That much was learned last week as both No. 2 Minnesota (3-1-0) and No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth (3-1-0) fell to conference opponents at their home rinks. Last season, the Gophers and Bulldogs were 4-0 against each of the other five teams in the WCHA.<\/p>\n
That changed over the weekend when No. 6 Wisconsin (3-1-0) and No. 10 Ohio State (2-1-0) traveled to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The Badgers, ranked No. 10 a week ago, handled UMD on Saturday, 4-2, while the Buckeyes, making their first-ever appearance in the Top 10 this week, left Minneapolis with a split after a 4-2 win over Minnesota on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Defense appears to be the difference this season for both Wisconsin and Ohio State. Badger goalie Jackie MacMillan stopped 47 Bulldog shots on Saturday and her teammates produced three power-play goals for the win. The Buckeyes got the job done on Sunday by holding the Gophers to just 16 shots on goal.<\/p>\n
Ohio State’s blue line has been bolstered by the addition of two internationally-talented rookies, Kelli Halcisak and Emma Laaksonen. In addition to improving the defensive coverage, Halcisak (1g, 5a) is the team’s leading scorer and contributed a goal and two assists in Sunday’s win. Forwards Shana Frost and Corinne Rosen scored Ohio State’s three other goals.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin has a blue-line scorer of its own in sophomore Sis Paulsen, who recorded a goal and an assist in Saturday’s victory in Duluth. But Wisconsin benefited from a blend of youth and experience on offense, getting goals from junior Michelle Sikich as well as freshmen Meghan Hunter and Steph Millar. Hunter has five goals in just four games.<\/p>\n
It is wise not to overlook the fact that Minnesota and UMD each came away from the weekend with a win, and that they are still the teams to beat in the WCHA. However, it looks like there could be a lot more close games than expected this season out West.<\/p>\n
That means one thing for sure: don’t expect this writer’s prediction percentage to be quite as accurate as it was last year (over .700, if I do say so myself).<\/p>\n
Friday-Saturday, Oct. 27-28 St. Cloud State at #6 Wisconsin — The Badgers are on a roll, but the Huskies are also much improved. St. Cloud, 3-2; Wisconsin, 4-2 #2 Minnesota at Mankato State — The Gophers won’t settle for a sweep this weekend. Minnesota, 5-1, 6-2 #7 New Hampshire at #10 Ohio State — The jelling Buckeyes have a big advantage at home against a young Wildcat squad playing its first Division I opponent. Ohio State, 3-1, 4-2<\/p>\n
Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 28-29 #3 Minnesota-Duluth at Bemidji State — The Bulldogs are starting to explode on offense. UMD, 6-1, 7-2 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s not just a two-team race in the WCHA, it seems, as upstarts Ohio State and Wisconsin lifted eyebrows last weekend with upsets of powerhouses Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth. Zevi Gutfreund<\/b> lifts some more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n