A tough weekend went from bad to worse for the Wisconsin men’s hockey team (1-2-1 WCHA, 1-4-1 overall) Saturday night as the team was swept by Colorado College and then lost their leading scorer, junior forward Mark Zengerle, to a broken finger.
The Badgers played a back-and-forth thriller Friday night, eventually falling 5-4 in overtime, but they were held off the score sheet Saturday, dropping the second game of the series, 3-0.
“This whole weekend it seems like we haven’t gotten going,” head coach Mike Eaves said. “What we said to the kids after was you know that they could walk out of the building with their heads high because they didn’t quit in the third period.”
Colorado College (2-0, 5-3) has been a thorn in the side for the Badgers in recent years, sweeping Wisconsin last season and knocking them out of the WCHA playoffs the year before. That trend continued this weekend.
The Badgers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead Friday night, with goals from junior left winger Michael Mersch and sophomore wing Brad Navin, but the Tigers fought back with two goals of their own in the second period to tie the game at two.
After retaking the lead early in the third, Wisconsin gave up two more goals before redshirt junior right wing Keegan Meuer knotted the game at four with under five minutes to play, sending the game to overtime. It would not be enough however, as Tigers sophomore wing Alexander Krushelnyski found the back of the net just 25 seconds into the extra frame.
“We just can’t seem to put a full 60-minute game together this season so far,” sophomore defenseman Jake McCabe said after Friday’s loss. “We have some great shifts, we have some really weak shifts. We just have to put it all together, and I think we’ll be happy with that outcome once we do that.”
The loss spoiled what was otherwise a special night for the Badgers, who dedicated the ice sheet at the Kohl Center to their former coach, Bob Johnson.
Wisconsin would not fare any better Saturday night. After a scoreless first period, Colorado College again struck twice in the second period with goals from Krushelnyski and junior left wing Archie Skalbeck.
Tigers’ senior defenseman Mike Boivin would later add a power play tally late in the third to seal their 3-0 victory.
The biggest loss for the Badgers, however, came when Zengerle went to the locker room halfway through the second period after blocking a shot. After the game, Eaves confirmed that the Rochester, N.Y., native sustained a broken finger.
Zengerle led the Badgers in points last season with 50 points and had a team-high six points through six games so far this season before suffering the injury.
“It just makes it more difficult for us to score goals than it has been,” Eaves said about Zengerle’s absence. “I think on the power play we will be able to move some people around and still be pretty effective, and we saw that a little bit out there, but there is going to be a hole there for a while.”
Sophomore forward Brendan Woods also appeared to be injured Saturday as he limped off the ice late in the third period.
The Badgers head into a bye next weekend before traveling to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers Nov. 16-17.
