Wisconsin (0-4-0) continued its rough start this weekend, getting swept by Northern Michigan (2-0-0) in a showdown in Green Bay. The Wildcats took the first game 2-0 and the second 4-1.
Friday night, Northern Michigan took an early lead and didn’t look back, scoring two goals in the first period and winning 2-0. Their first goal came right after a face-off to the right of UW senior goalie Joel Rumpel, with NMU sophomore forward Dominik Shine banging a shot off the post and in for the goal.
Less than five minutes later, junior forward Darren Nowick scored on a one-timer from sophomore forward Gerard Hanson on a power play.
Rumpel let up only two goals and made 26 saves, but his solid net play wasn’t enough to make for the Badgers’ offensive struggles so far this year. UW was 0-for-5 on power play chances in the game, and for the season they haven’t yet scored with the advantage, failing to capitalize on all 18 chances so far.
Rumpel also played well in Saturday night’s game, and again it wasn’t enough, with the Badgers going down 4-1. That score is deceptive, with two NMU goals coming on an empty net, and the Badgers also scoring their only goal when they were down 3-0. The game was always in the Wildcats’ favor.
In the first period, sophomore forward John Siemer personified the Northern Michigan blue-collar style with his goal, slapping at the puck two or three times before sneaking it past Rumpel. In the second period, the Wildcats scored a goal that mirrored their face-off score from Friday night, coming from the left side this time.
UW outshot Northern Michigan 25-18 in the contest, but NMU sophomore goalie Mathias Dahlstrom was almost unstoppable with 24 saves on the night. Dahlstrom only allowed one goal on 43 shots on the weekend. The only Badger to score was senior forward Brad Nevin, knocking in his first of the year.
The Badgers have looked shaky in their first two series to say the least, but they have time to stiffen up. Their next game isn’t for three weeks, and in that time they need to find a consistent goal scorer to support Rumpel’s solid goaltending if UW wants to stay relevant in the Big Ten this year.
The Badgers play next Friday Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. in their home opener against North Dakota.
