Wisconsin women's hockey plays intrasquad scrimmage (CBS Interactive U-WIRE)
September 29, 2009
(CSTV U-WIRE) MADISON, Wis.—Fora team that was supposed to be missing its two best players, there wereplenty of fireworks Monday night as the white team skated to an 8-1victory in the annual Wisconsin women’s hockey red/white scrimmage.
Eventhough All-Americans Hilary Knight and Meghan Duggan are gone due toOlympic commitments, the white team appeared to pick up where UW’sstellar offense left off last year. Led by Brianna Decker’s four goals,the white team easily cruised by an overmatched red defense in the40-minute game.
Thered team found itself in a hole early, as junior Geena Prough beat redteam goalie Nikki Kaasa from the top of the circle just minutes intothe game.
“It kind of just trickled by — it was one of those ones where you are just getting into the flow,” Kaasa said.
Althoughthe red team was able to keep the white offense in check for most ofthe first half, the white team dominated the entire match. The playersouthustled the red team, dominated puck control and capitalized on moreof their opportunities. According to interim head coach TraceyDeKeyser, the white team was impressive.
“We saw some good energy that we can harness and run with,” DeKeyser said.
Inthe second half, the white team was finally able to score with easeagainst a tired red defense. Focusing more on forward lineups, DeKeyserused only three red team defensemen in the second period and it showed.The defense gave up some uncharacteristic mistakes deep in their ownzone, and in a six-minute stretch, the white team scored four timesagainst replacement goalie Becca Ruegsegger.
“Some people were getting some good chances and capitalizing,” DeKeyser said.
Thelack of rest also took its toll on the red team offense. Given apenalty shot for the red team, defensemen Malee Windmeier misplayed thepuck and was unable to capitalize on a golden chance. With the defenseon such short rest, the white offense was able to chase down everyloose puck and keep the icing penalties to a minimum.
“Ithink we started to get more comfortable,” junior Mallory Deluce said.“I think we just settled down and started working together.”
Givenso many opportunities to score, the onslaught from the white team wasinevitable. Using a combination of speed and awareness, Decker scoredthree times at the end of the game.
“Ourforwards are really good,” goaltender Alannah McCready said. “Deckerdecided she was just going to score a bunch of goals that period.”
Inaddition to mismatches, the white team was also aided by a low level ofphysical play during the scrimmage. Not wanting to injure anybody, theteams were playing about half as physical as they do during the regularseason.
“Unlikefootball, we don’t really have a practice hitting squad,” DeKeysersaid. “It’s not really a great example of what the game is going to belike on Friday.”
Thescrimmage was in preparation for their first regular season matchupagainst North Dakota this weekend. The Badgers are hoping to repeat asnational champions this season, which would be the program’s fourthtitle in five years.
Despitelosing several All-Americans from last year’s team, perhaps the biggestchange in the roster will be the temporary departure of 2009 coach ofthe year Mark Johnson. However, because DeKeyser has been with theprogram from its founding days, the players are comfortable with thetransition.
“I’veonly had coach Johnson for a brief period of time,” Decker said. “He’sa great guy and that’s why I came here, but with him being gone, Tracyis going to just have to fill his shoes, and I think she can do that.”
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