As Wisconsin reveled in its sweep of Michigan State, the nine seniors on the Badgers’ roster turned to face the student section. Together, they sang “Varsity” on home ice for the last time.
“It wasn’t planned or anything… it just kind of happened,” said senior forward Michael Mersch. “It was emotional for me and for the rest of my teammates.”
No. 8 Wisconsin (10-5-1 Big Ten, 19-9-2 overall) finished senior weekend with two conference wins over the Michigan State (3-7-6 Big Ten, 9-15-7 overall), dominating Friday’s matchup 5-2 and shutting the Spartans out 2-0 Saturday.
The sweep capped Wisconsin’s home record at 17-2-1, giving this year’s lineup the record for the most single-season wins at the Kohl Center.
Key to the Badgers’ success against Michigan State was their special teams play. Wisconsin went 4-for-11 on the power play and killed off all of the Spartans’ seven man advantages.
A physical tone was set for the series in the first few minutes of Friday’s game when MSU freshman defenseman Chris Knudson took a boarding penalty.
Shortly after, on a 2-on-1, Michigan State spoiled Wisconsin’s powerplay with a shorthanded goal from senior forward Lee Reimer.
“The first powerplay was not as sharp as we needed,” head coach Mike Eaves said. “They [got] the shortie, and it was like a slap in the face.
The Badgers bounced back midway through the period with a powerplay goal from Mersch, who deflected sophomore forward Nic Kerdiles’ tip to even the score at 1-1. Early in the second period, Mersch struck on the powerplay again, scoring from his knees on sophomore goaltender Jake Hildebrand.
Wisconsin couldn’t capitalize on two more man advantages in the period, but with 3.9 seconds left senior forward Mark Zengerle scored on a wrist shot seconds after junior goaltender Joel Rumpel made a flashy glove save on senior forward Greg Wolfe at the other end.
“Honestly, I didn’t see the save, but it was probably just Joel being Joel,” Zengerle said.
In his first game back after taking a healthy scratch last week, junior forward Brad Navin capitalized on a rebound off a Spartan defenseman, propelling the Badgers to a 4-1 lead.
Senior forwards Sean Little and Keegan Meuer got the assists on Navin’s goal as five of Wisconsin’s nine seniors recorded points.
Late in the third period, a turnover at the blueline led to a top-shelf goal from MSU’s Wolfe. The Badgers responded with an empty-net goal from Kerdiles, which sealed their win with a score of 5-2.
After honoring Wisconsin’s seniors in front of a sellout crowd Saturday, the game began with another Spartan penalty, this one to redshirt senior forward Dean Chelios for tripping Badger junior defenseman Jake McCabe.
On the subsequent power play, junior forward Joseph LaBate put one past Hildebrand with two Spartan defensemen and Badger freshman forward Jedd Soleway crowding the goaltender.
Michigan State almost responded with a power play goal of its own when sophomore forward Matt DeBlouw rifled the puck past Rumpel, but the goal was waved off when a review revealed a Spartan in the crease.
Things heated up midway through the first when Wolfe shoved senior defenseman Frankie Simonelli after he made a diving block in front of Rumpel. The scrum that ensued sent two Badgers and one Spartan to the box.
“That’s a very proud team across the hall,” Eaves said. “They didn’t back off one little bit. They tried to get up and under our skin a little bit … if a team doesn’t do that, then they’ve given up."
Wisconsin went to intermission with a 1-0 lead and a carryover power play from an interference call on Michigan State.
With seconds remaining in the man advantage, a tic-tac-toe play from senior forwards Tyler Barnes and Mark Zengerle behind the net led to Mersch’s third power play goal of the series, giving Wisconsin a 2-0 lead.
“I think our special teams has definitely picked up,” Simonelli said. “I don’t know if I’d say we’re hitting on all cylinders, I think there’s still some things we could still sharpen up.”
The Badgers pressured the Spartans through the second period, but Wisconsin’s physicality landed them in another skirmish. Four players, two from each squad, were sent to the boxes for roughing.
Wisconsin gave up few chances with Rumpel in the net, and the Badgers sailed through the final frame to a 2-0 win and a series sweep.
Two seniors both reached milestones this weekend, with Zengerle entering the top 10 assist leaders in Badger history and Mersch joining the top 30 goal-scorers with 64 career goals.
Coach Eaves reached a milestone of his own this weekend, with Saturday’s win marking his 250th victory with Wisconsin.
“As much as we think our kids are doing a good job away from the rink, you know people are calling—tickets, family, girlfriend, studying, coaches in my face,” Eaves said. “There’s a lot going on and we solved that riddle. We did enough things well this weekend to find a way to get points and do good things.”
