After enjoying a stretch of two months with only two road games, the Badgers (0-6-2 Big Ten, 2-16-4 overall) will start a small road trip of two series this weekend against Penn State (5-2-1, 13-7-4) in State College.
UW’s success on the trip will hinge on whether or not they can weather Penn State’s offensive storm and continue their scoring streak.
“With Penn State you’ve got no time to relax, you’ve always got to be ready for a shot coming from anywhere,” senior goalie Joel Rumpel said.
The Nittany Lions shoot far more shots than any other school in the Big Ten. Their 1002 shots this year lead the second highest shooting team (Minnesota, with 804) by nearly 200. This creates more opportunities for fluke goals and mistakes from a goalie or defense, giving Penn State the ability to forgo finesse for crashing the net and trying to poke something in.
It’s no secret that the Badgers, who have only shot 524 times, aren’t a high scoring team. However, in the four games since the end of winter break the team has seen a slight offensive resurgence, averaging 3.25 goals per game. Before and during the break, the team averaged only 1.72 goals per game.
The increase in scoring hasn’t lead to much in terms of wins, but that has more to do with the quality of opponent than anything, taking on both Michigan and Minnesota. UW did tie Minnesota last weekend, so some good has come out of it.
Part of this increased scoring has been the hot streak of sophomore forward Grant Besse who has scored five goals and tallied two assists in the Badgers’ last six games. Another part of it lies in something a bit simpler.
“Once we started to get a couple bounces, your confidence starts getting going and you start shooting the puck more, and you’ve got a little bit more confidence in your shot and I think that’s kinda what’s going on right now,” senior forward Joseph LaBate said.
The Badgers’ confidence will be tested when they are no longer in the friendly confines of the Kohl Center, as they have been since the student section returned from break and their scoring increased. Rumpel isn’t too worried about the opposing fans though.
“It kinda gets me into it, if anything, when you hear them giving you a hard time it gets you going ready for the next save,” Rumpel said.
Wisconsin will take on Penn State in Pegula Ice Arena Friday at 5:30p.m and Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
