Following two bye weeks split by a home series against Lake Superior State, the No. 12 Wisconsin Badgers (3-2-1 overall) will face off against the No. 8 Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (2-2-0 NCHC, 6-3-1) this weekend in Oxford, Ohio.
Wisconsin, coming off its rout of LSS in which the Badgers scored a whopping eight goals, will face Miami in a non-conference series before heading to Minnesota. The Badgers do not play at the Kohl Center again until Dec. 6.
“It’s got its ups and downs,” senior forward Mark Zengerle said of road trips. “Going on the road is fun. We’re going to two great places, with two great teams as well, so that should be four nail-biter games.”
Miami is a dynamic team that ranks No. 10 and No. 11 in offense and defense, respectively. The Redhawks, who faced two ranked teams in Providence and North Dakota earlier in the season, split their last series with St. Cloud State in St. Cloud, Minn.
They will face Wisconsin at home this weekend, where they’ve lost only once all season.
Meanwhile, the Badgers may be getting junior goaltender Joel Rumpel back after an ankle injury. Junior goaltender Landon Peterson will start Friday, but head coach Mike Eaves has not commented yet on whether or not he will play Rumpel on Saturday. Rumpel said he feels prepared.
“Whatever coach Eaves decides, I’ll be ready,” Rumpel said.
Rumpel, who hasn’t played since Wisconsin’s 2-1 win over Northern Michigan Oct. 12, has been preparing for his return during Wisconsin’s stretched-out schedule, in which the Badgers played just four games in nearly a month.
“The day I got hurt, I was immediately in the cold tub trying to get ready to come back as soon as possible,” Rumpel said. “I was hoping I was going to be able to get back last weekend, but it didn’t end up working out that way."
Zengerle and the Badgers are looking forward to having Rumpel back between the pipes.
“We’re always confident with him. Obviously last year he was huge for us in a lot of ways. The personality that he brings in the room and on the ice is contagious. [Rumpel has] played really well for us, so any time you get a player like that back, it’s big,” Zengerle said.
Another notable player to watch against Miami is Nic Kerdiles, who is on an 18-game point-scoring streak. He will look to make it 19 and 20 versus the Redhawks.
Kerdiles leads the Badgers in scoring with four goals and four assists. Senior forward Michael Mersch follows close behind with four goals and three assists on the season.
This will be the first time the Redhawks will host the Badgers at the Goggin Ice Center. The two teams met last year at the Kohl Center and split the series. Friday’s game will begin at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday’s matchup starts at 6 p.m.
