It’s been a rollercoaster ride of a season for the No. 14 Wisconsin men’s hockey team.
Following a 1-7-2 start to the season, the Badgers (13-8-7 WCHA, 17-12-7 overall) went on a 16-5-5 run, culminating in Saturday’s win over No. 8 St. Cloud State (18-9-1, 21-14-1) at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Madison to clinch home ice for the first round of the WCHA playoffs.
“To achieve home ice as a reward for their blood, sweat and tears and sticking through hard times—It’s a great thing for them,” head coach Mike Eaves said. “Now we get to go back to the Kohl Center and we get to practice there all week in preparation. That’s a big deal. That’s well deserved.”
Saturday night’s victory comes following the Badgers’ third period collapse Friday at the Coliseum.
Wisconsin brought a 2-1 lead and MacNaughton Cup hopes to the final period, but three St. Cloud goals, the final one coming on an empty Badger net, put a damper on the night for UW.
The Badgers, faced with one final opportunity to clinch home ice in the playoffs, came out with some much-needed energy Saturday, scoring within the first 43 seconds of the contest when junior defenseman Frankie Simonelli sent a shot through Husky sophomore goalie Ryan Farragher’s five-hole to put UW up 1-0.
St. Cloud, however, retaliated 24 seconds later to equalize the score at one.
“It was a good way to start the game off and set the tempo out there early on,” Simonelli said. “I got the start this game so I knew within myself that I had to get out there and set the pace for the rest of the team.”
Twelve minutes into the first period, junior forward Michael Mersch made a little hesitation move in front of St. Cloud’s goal and found the net on a highlight-reel backhand for his 21st goal of the season.
“It was a patient kind of play,” Mersch said. “I’ve never scored like that, that’s probably my prettiest score as a Badger.”
The second period continued in back-and-forth fashion, and Wisconsin found itself looking at an identical 2-1 lead heading into the regular season’s final period.
As the final seconds ticked away on the regular season, the fans at the Coliseum took to their feet as Mersch scored his second of the night on an empty St. Cloud net with just over a minute left, giving the Badgers a two-goal lead.
Not to be kept out of the game for long, St. Cloud scored another goal with 32 seconds remaining, giving Wisconsin a one-goal lead to close out the game.
Sophomore goaltender Joel Rumpel and the Wisconsin defense were able to hold on to the victory and the Coliseum erupted, much like it did in the glory days of UW hockey.
“It kind of felt like playoff hockey already,” Rumpel said. “I think that will help us going into next weekend. Seeing that we can hang with a top team in the league and actually take it to them for most of that game was good to see.”
Next weekend Wisconsin will return home to the Kohl Center to face Minnesota-Duluth in a best-of-three series for the first weekend of the WCHA playoffs.
