Steady Badgers roll into NCAA Frozen Four Tilt

The 2010-2011 season for the Wisconsin Badgers has been pretty smooth sailing. The Nation's number one program goes into it's NCAA Frozen Four semi final on Friday against Boston College riding a 25 game unbeaten streak. While 25 games may seem impressive on the surface upon closer examination the streak has seen its fair share of challenges. In the game that started the run on December third at North Dakota the Badgers climbed ahead before holding on courtesy of a late second period goal from Brianna Decker to seal the victory. The streak of 23 wins and two ties (at UMD and home against Minnesota) has shown time and time again that it's not just a few talented players that win games, its which talented player will step up to the plate on any given night.

With a slew of Beyond the Dashers all WCHA team members the Badgers offensive firepower needs no introduction. The Badgers defense that has been subject to change on many occasions this season is as good as any when they are clicking. However as shown by the 4-4 tie at UMD where the Badgers held a 3-1 lead before allowing a pair of power play goals spurring the Duluth comeback, and more recently the slow start in the WCHA title game where the Gophers rattled off three unanswered goals before Brianna Decker jump started the Badger offensive with a little over five minutes to play in the second period, when the teams defense is struggling they are beatable.

While Bucky has survived the onslaught of WCHA teams that have fallen in it's wake the last three games, this opponent features a prime scoring weapon in Kelli Stack the likes of which the Badgers have only seen against Mercyhurst with Meghan Agosta back in January and a goaltender that managed to keep the Gopher's potent top two lines off the board until late in the game. However given that Badger coach Mark Johnson coached both Stack and Schaus last season with Team USA, the likely hood that the Badgers will be blind to each of their abilities is very unlikely.

What's likely for the fan's attending or watching this one online is they will be in for one of the better east-west match ups of the season. The rising Eagles vs. the high flying Badgers. Who will win, well, I guess you will have to tune in and see...