Coming off an encouraging series with No. 1 Minnesota, the Wisconsin men's hockey team was looking to continue their success against top ranked teams. But after a weekend sweep at the hands of No. 5 Colorado College, the Badgers are still left searching for answers on the road.
Facing the top-ranked power play unit in the WCHA for the second straight week (Minnesota previously held that title), the Badgers' (4-7-1 WCHA, 5-8-1 overall) penalty kill was one of the few bright spots on an otherwise fruitless weekend. Wisconsin held the Tigers (5-2-0, 7-2-0) to just 2-for-10 on the man advantage over the course of both games, but early deficits and power play woes of their own were too much for the Badgers to overcome.
CC jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead Friday night thanks to a power play goal from senior forward Nick Dineen and a short-handed tally from sophomore forward Dakota Eveland.
The Tigers took a five minute penalty for checking from behind, but junior defensemen Justin Schultz, the Badger's power play quarterback, and another Colorado College player were also sent to the box for roughing minors. Eveland, shorthanded, brought the puck into the Wisconsin zone and wristed a shot from the point that freshman goaltender Joel Rumpel could not stop resulting in the 2-0 deficit.
The Badgers struck back quickly however, with freshman forward Brendan Woods deflecting home a Frankie Simonelli shot for a power play goal of his own with just over a minute remaining in the first to cut the Tiger's lead to 2-1.
Dineen scored his second goal of the game late in the second period, deflecting the puck off of sophomore forward Mark Zengerle and past Rumpel, extending the Tiger's lead to 3-1.
Sophomore forward Keegan Meuer cut the lead down to one again, putting home a Schultz rebound midway through the third period, but it would not be enough for the young Badgers as Tiger sophomore forward Jaden Schwartz scored just over a minute later, closing the game at 4-2.
Saturday night's game began in much the same way as the previous night. Colorado College jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 2:20 into the game with goals from Dineen and junior forward Scott Winkler. The Tigers were not done in the first though, scoring again halfway through the period to push their lead to 3-0.
After a horrendous start, the Badgers could have packed in and given up at this point, but they played resiliently for the rest of the game, holding CC to just four second period shots and eight third period shots, after surrendering 15 in the first period alone.
Another short-handed goal from the Tigers extended their lead to 4-0 before Zengerle scored the only Badger goal of the night. Zengerle, who also had an assist Friday, extended his career-best point streak to 13 games-one of the longest streaks in Wisconsin history.
After starting Rumpel in both games last weekend, Badger head coach Mike Eaves decided to go back to the goalie rotation he had used previously in the season, starting Rumpel Friday and freshman goaltender Landon Peterson Saturday: The decision failed to provide any kind of spark for a Wisconsin team that is in desperate need of one away from Madison.
Saturday's 4-1 final dropped the team's road record to 0-5-1 on the season.
Wisconsin will get their chance to bounce back next weekend with a series against Mercyhurst at the Kohl Center.
