Badger Women 3 - US Select Team 2

With a 3-2 victory, the Badger Women have become the 1st WCHA team to defeat the US Select Team this year. The Select Team had previously defeated Bemidji, Minnesota, UND, SCSU, Mankato, and Ohio State, as well as Mercyhurst. (For those of you who don't follow women's hockey all that closely, Mercyhurst is one of the top teams in college hockey, as is Wisconsin and Minnesota.) Congratulations, Badgers!

The Cap Times has the game story, with pictures!

Your Badger goals were scored by Brooke Ammerman (Rachel Bible), Maria Evans (Emily Kranz), and Hilary Knight (Angie Kesely, Erika Lawler).

I gotta tell ya, it was a lot of fun to see the Badger Women play a competive opponent, as those blowouts games tend to get a bit boring by the end of the 1st or 2nd period. This was some seriously good hockey. If you didn't get a chance to make the game this year, make sure you get to next year's game when Team USA again takes on the Badger Women.

The Select Team includes Jinelle Zaugg (who just joined the team after finishing her studies at the UW in December), Molly Engstrom, and Kerry Weiland (who played limited minutes as she's recovering from an injury). Composed of post-collegiate players participating in the Blaine Residency, the Select Team typically plays with a pretty short bench -- the USA website lists 9 forwards and 5 defenseman -- making for a lot of minutes for each player, especially on D as Weiland recovers from her injury. Two players were added to the roster for this weekend only to bring the total up to 16 skaters.