INSIDE WOMEN'S HOCKEY BY ROSS LA DUE @BadgerWHockey SCHEDULE
This Week Friday
Next Five Oct. 5 Oct. 6
Oct. 13 Oct. 14
at Minnesota State 7 p.m. Saturday at Minnesota State 4 p.m.
at Lindenwood at Lindenwood
Oct. 19 Bemidji State
7 p.m. 2 p.m.
at Minnesota Duluth 3 p.m. at Minnesota Duluth 3 p.m. 7 p.m.
Ready or not, hockey
ith the school year not even a month old, the women's hockey team is set to begin its 2012-13 cam- paign. Since LaBahn Arena won't
W
debut until mid-October, the Badgers are hitting the road this weekend, marking just the third time in program history a season has opened
52 » VARSITY SEPTEMBER 27, 2012
season is here! Women's hockey begins as September ends
away from Madison. The new season also brings with it a lot of excit- ment. Brianna Decker, win- ner of the 2012 Patty Kazma- ier Memorial Award, returns for her senior seeason, along with the majority of last sea- son's defense, anchored by Stefanie McKeough and Alex Rigsby in net.
Gaining wins in the WCHA looks to be as tough as ever, with Minne- sota returning its top scorer, Aman- da Kessel, and top netminder, Noo- ra Räty. North Dakota, which was tabbed alongside Wisconsin for sec- ond in the league's preseason poll, returns All-Americans Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux. So, with less than a week's worth of full team practice, the Badgers, ready or not, begin their march to the 2013 Frozen Four with a pair of conference games at Minnesota State this Friday and Saturday.
UW welcome eight new faces » The Badgers bring eight new play- ers to this year's squad, which in- cludes six forwards, a defenseman and a goaltender. The group in- cludes three players that have fam- ily connections to UW. Kim Drake is the sister of Badger men's player Chase Drake. Molly Doner is the daughter of former men's player Lexi Doner, and Mikayla Johnson is the daughter of UW women's head coach Mark Johnson. Also, Jorie Walters is the first Iowa na- tive signed by the program.