MADISON — Fourth-ranked Division III UW-Eau Claire got on a bus for a 350 mile round trip to play an exhibition game against the top-ranked Division I, two-time defending national champion University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team on Monday where they lost 15-1. The game was the third of four the Blugolds will play in seven days.
And UW-EC Coach Erik Strand said he and his team were excited for the opportunity.
Many folks saw the final score line and wondered why UW-Eau Claire would agree to play an exhibition in Madison against Wisconsin. Or what the Badgers could get out of playing against the Blugolds.
For Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson, whose team was coming off a bye week, playing a game against an opponent is always preferable to practice. No matter the opponent or the outcome, the team learns more about themselves and is more prepared by playing games.
“We can help them elevate their game and they can help us get better at what we’re trying to do,” Johnson said.
The Blugolds, who have made it to the NCAA tournament for the past three seasons, don’t often have to play from behind. It was a fun opportunity to play in a once-in-a-lifetime game and Strand confessed to daydreaming about the admittedly slim chance that his team could pull off an upset. But it was also the kind of learning opportunity that couldn’t be duplicated, in practice or in regular-season play.
“Our biggest challenge for our players (was) can we keep our heads about us? Can we continue to pursue and compete shift after shift until the end of the game regardless of what the score says? Could we deal with that adversity? How would we dig in? It was 7-0 before we got through the first half of a water bottle. It would have been really easy to fold up and call it a day… There’s so much for us to work on. It’s very valuable information for us for what we want to try to achieve before the year is over,” he said.
That kind of experience becomes invaluable in tough game situations – when the team is down late in a game, when a game goes to overtime and when they play tough opponents in the postseason. When Sami Scherling scored midway through the final frame, it wasn’t just about erasing the shut-out, it was proof that the Blugolds were still fighting and scrapping, despite the lopsided stat sheet.
“We will not see a tougher team – this isn’t disrespectful to anyone we’re going to see the rest of this year – we will not see a better team, period. If we can compete like that for 60 minutes, I like our chances most nights with the teams we’re going to face,” Strand said.
It’s unsurprising that when it comes to talking about women’s college hockey in Wisconsin, the Badgers dominate the conversation.
But there are actually nine other collegiate women’s hockey teams in Wisconsin – with another on the way.
Concordia (Mequon), Lawrence (Appleton), Northland (Ashland), Marian (Fond du Lac), St. Norbert (De Pere), UW-Eau Claire, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Superior all field Division III women’s hockey teams. Milwaukee School of Engineering has hired a head coach for their new women’s team.
As the only DI school in the state, Wisconsin has never played a game against another school in Wisconsin. NCAA rules usually have teams looking to play exhibitions against Canadian schools or National Team squads. There has been an exemption in place during Covid that has allowed for teams to play one exhibition game against another NCAA school.
Both Johnson and Strand would like to see that exception become the rule. Johnson pointed out that other sports – notably men’s basketball – travel the state to play other Wisconsin-based schools early in their season schedule.
“The kid in me was dreaming. How cool would it be to create this interstate rivalry?” said Strand.
Tickets were not sold to Monday’s exhibition. Instead, fans were only allowed entry if they donated a book. In all, 1152 books were collected and will be distributed to children in the Madison area. Strand was particularly impressed that Wisconsin was able to take the idea of a game and make it about something so much more.
“The way that this was put together. It was unbelievable. It started off as just an exhibition game and turned into the book drive and got the community involved. The support that was here tonight, it just goes to show how strong the women’s hockey fan base can be if it has the right kind of support and the right kind of people behind it. I think we have that in this state,” said Strand.
