Flying high following their walk-in-the-park against Wayne State last weekend, the Badgers now turn their attention to another historically floundering program. Bemidji State is trying to earn its wings after posting its worst season in history in 2003.

The Beavers will travel from Bemidji, Minn., (220 miles northwest of the Twin Cities) for a two game series and will attempt to continue their strong start to the 2004-05 season. The Beavers stand at 1-1 splitting last weekend's series against No. 10 Mercyhurst. The Beavers upset Mercyhurst 2-1 in the first game of the Saturday-Sunday series and them promptly fell 4-2 in the second game.

Nevertheless, the fact that Bemidji won at all, especially against a ranked opponent is cause for attention, considering last season the Beavers only won three conference games and five last year overall. Last season, Bemidji started out 1-0-1 heading into its first WCHA action of the year, before losing 10 straight and 13 of its next 14. During the streak of 10 consecutive losses, the Beavers only scored five goals, being shut-out five times.

Bemidji's defeating of Mercyhurst could be a sign that the Beaver's are finally on the up and up.

"Bemidji's going to be certainly more improved than last year. They didn't lose a lot of players, and they brought in a bunch of young players. They go into Mercyhurst, who was ranked eighth in the polls and upset them in their building," UW head coach Mark Johnson said of his upcoming opponent. "They are going to be confident in what they can do. It's a tough task for them to come into our building, but they've got nothing to lose and everything to gain so we just have to make sure that our players focus and understand what is at stake and come out and play hard. Irrelevant of what they did last season, they are 1-1, we are 2-0 and it's a young season, so we need to continue to play well and continue to compete."

Whether Bemidji is actually getting better or Mercyhurst just had a bad day, the Badgers should like their chances at opening up the WCHA season 2-0. Saturday's game will mark the 23rd meeting between the two squads, with Wisconsin holding an almost perfect record of 20-1-1 over the Beavers. Wisconsin's sole loss came Dec. 9, 2001 where the Badgers fell 5-1.

The Badgers seem primed to avert a second loss this weekend as they hold distinct advantages in all phases of the game over Bemidji.

Bemidji returns 93 percent of its scoring from last year's team and probably won't have a 10 game-five goal stretch, like last year. The leading scorer for last year's squad was sophomore Kelly Hart, who looks set early on to repeat the feat, already having posted two of Bemidji's four goals. Hart tallied 20 points last year on 10 goals and 10 assists.

Kate Robinson is the other main scoring threat for Bemidji. Robinson was second on the team in scoring last year (six goals, 11 points) and has already lit the red lamp once this year. Robinson also has the potential to get hot, as she had a four game goal scoring streak at one point last year.

Defensively, the Beavers surrendered 139 goals last year and will need to improve dramatically if they are to be competitive. All seven defensemen that played last year return this year. Leading the way is Jenny Schnickel, who apart from leading the defense, is a threat on the offensive end too, notching four goals and nine points in the 2003-04 campaign.

The defense will be hurt by the fact the goaltender position is up in the air for Bemidji as freshmen Emily Brookshaw and Melissa Smith are battling third year player Jill Luebke for minutes.

Luebke has played all the minutes so far, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see one of the freshmen if the Badgers either get up early, or make laughter out of game one.

All in all, if the Badger can manage three goals both nights, and they could very well score many more, they will have a very good chance of leaving the Kohl Center ice Sunday evening 2-0 in WCHA play, as Bemidji State should have a lot of trouble getting past one of the top defenses in the country.

Wisconsin held Wayne State scoreless for the series even without senior captain defensive leader Carla MacLeod, who will see her first action of the season this weekend.

Coach Johnson does not want to see a letdown however, as the Badgers are going to need every WCHA point they can muster if they are to compete with Minnesota for the conference crown.

"It's league games so the points matter and they certainly go a long way, especially when you get into January-February. So, anytime you play a league game on your home ice, those are games you have to come out and play well and try to win," Johnson said, adding that a let-up at any time could ignite trouble. "The one thing about this team is they are going to play hard, start to finish. They will a much better skating team then Wayne State was and [Coach Bruce Olson] will demand hard work out of them. Irrelevant of what the score is — they could be winning 2-0 or losing 4-0 — they are going to come at you and play hard the whole game."