After starting the season ranked No. 1, the Wisconsin women�s hockey team had nowhere to go but down. For the entire month of November, it seemed like all the Badgers did was fall further and further behind. During an eight-game stretch in November the women�s hockey team went 2-5-1 and looked nothing like back-to-back national champions.

One reason for the team�s early struggles is their dependence on five freshmen � who have never had to balance college classes and college hockey before � to play major minutes for the team.

�It is always difficult to play your first semester and to play hockey while you are preparing for your first exams,� junior goaltender Jessie Vetter said of the freshmen. �So once school ended, and we just focused on playing hockey and having fun, our team started to do a lot better.�

Since the rough skid in November, however, UW (16-6-2, 12-4-2 WCHA) is riding a six-game win streak in which almost all members of the team have contributed. One major reason for the team�s turnaround is the offense�s rejuvenation and ability to find the back of the net. In the past six games the team has averaged 3.5 goals per game.

�The biggest reason that we are winning is our ability to score three or more goals in a game,� head coach Mark Johnson said. �In the games that we weren�t successful, we only scored one or two goals. Our defense has remained pretty good all season, so when we score three or more there is a good chance that we are going to win.�

Despite their recent offensive success, however, some players still think the team could be scoring more goals.

�To tell you the truth, I think that we should have scored six goals in all of those games,� senior Jinelle Zaugg said. �We had a lot of chances to score more goals, and we need to work on finishing those opportunities.�

This weekend, the No. 5 Badgers will face No. 9 St. Cloud State (15-5-4, 10-5-3 WCHA) at the Kohl Center. The Huskies � who split a two-game series earlier this year against the Badgers � are a scrappy team that has won a lot of close games this year and will present a strong challenge for UW�s revitalized offense.

�Their goaltender can play exceptionally well,� Johnson said. �We out-chanced them and out-shot them last time, but she came up big, and we couldn�t find the back of the net in the first game.�

Along with the usual motivation for winning the game, the Badgers have placed a little extra emphasis on sweeping the Huskies this weekend. Back when these two teams met in September, UW was on an NCAA-record, 32-game undefeated streak, which ended at St. Cloud in a 2-1 loss.

�We want to win every game, but there is a little extra motivation because they did break our streak,� Vetter said. �But in the end it is just another WCHA weekend, and we have to get four points out of it.�

Along with the pressure to win this weekend, the Badgers are facing mounting pressure to catch up in the WCHA race. With only ten more games to play, UW trails University of Minnesota-Duluth by eight points in the conference and probably needs to win out to have a shot at the WCHA title.

�We have got ten games left, and we are trying to win them all,� Johnson said. �With that said, however, you can only take the games one day at a time, and right now we are focused on St. Cloud State.�

�We like the pressure,� Vetter added. �Our team has made it a goal to win out, and we will work hard and see what happens.�