You could say that Mark Johnson, head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers, and John Harrington, skipper of the Minnesota State Mavericks, know each other pretty well — and their past is definitely apropos: the two were teammates on the Miracle on Ice team which shocked the world and won gold in the 1980 Olympics.

This time around, the ice won’t be so warm.

The unanimous No. 1-ranked team in women’s college hockey kicks off the new semester this weekend, as Wisconsin hosts Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) rival Minnesota State.

The Badgers, sitting at 21-1-0, have been nearly unstoppable this season; their single loss came against Northeastern the Friday after Thanksgiving due to an off game from goalie Kristen Campbell.

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Minnesota State has trended in the opposite direction, as the Mavericks hold a 3-18-1 overall record and have just one win through 14 conference games.

The series will be streamed live right here on FloHockey along with a plethora of other Big Ten games. Saturday’s action is set for 3 PM EST, followed by a Sunday matchup at 2 PM.

The two teams met up in mid-October, when a visiting Wisconsin turned a six-game winning streak into an eight-game streak, largely due to the play of sophomore Presley Norby, who recorded a goal and two assists in the series.

The story could be much different this time around, as the Badgers haven’t suited up in over a month. Their last series was a two-game shutout sweep of St. Cloud State, which saw them add wins four and five in a new winning streak.

“I think it’s our longest break in program history,” Johnson joked during his weekly press conference.

But based on the way his team has been practicing, Johnson doesn’t seem too worried.

“I think if you took a videotape of how we practiced in September and you watched us the last five or six days, especially with our younger players, you’ve seen them improve,” he said.

Yet, that downtime in game action could still be a threat to a near-perfect record, even against a Mavericks team that is 1-8-1 on the road.

“Overall, we need to have a better team effort than we had tonight — it was kind of disappointing,” Mavericks coach Harrington said after last weekend’s opening loss.

He’ll push for a full 60-minute effort against the league’s best team. The Badgers certainly have a target on their backs, and Minnesota State would love to join Northeastern in the upset club.

While Harrington credited St. Cloud on their win over his team — the Mavericks lost both games of the recent series, 0-5 and then 1-3 — the coach cited his team’s own costly mistakes as a reason for the early deficit that they couldn’t overcome.

Early deficits are a trend this season for the Mavericks: they’ve surrender the first goal in 15 of their 22 games, and they have a 2-13-0 record when surrendering the first goal. They’ve also allowed first goal four times during their five-game losing streak.

For comparison’s sake, the Badgers have scored first in 15 of their 22 games on the season and will come out hard as they look to build on their incredible first semester.

So how will the reunion go for Johnson and Harrington? You can find out right here on FloHockey this weekend, as Wisconsin looks to continue its torrid pace through the second half of the season.

By Jacob Messing

Have a question or a comment for Jacob? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.