Despite what appeared to be a lost year at the beginning of the season, the Badgers enter their final two contests with a considerable amount still on the line. Coming off a 2-2 draw against Penn State, Wisconsin (1-2-3 Big Ten, 4-9-3 overall) remains in last place in the conference, but is within striking distance of nabbing home-field advantage in the Big Ten tournament, and sits just six points behind first-place Rutgers.
The first of their remaining games will come Saturday at Indiana (2-3-1, 9-4-2), the Badgers’ final road tilt of the regular season. The Hoosiers, who have not missed the NCAA tournament since 1986 and have won six national championships during that streak, most recently in 2012, enter the match 6-1-1 in their last eight matches. Plagued by a slow start, though, the Hoosiers’ seven points place them above only the Badgers in the Big Ten standings.
The Badgers have actually fared better away from home, with a 4-3-1 road mark this year, and have collected at least one point in five of their last six road matches. One area that they will seek to improve upon, though, is being able to hold leads when they get ahead, after letting Penn State grab the equalizer less than five minutes after the opening goal in their last match.
“Like I said to the guys, we haven’t had a lot of leads this year, so that’s all kind of new for them as well how that momentum can switch,” head coach John Trask said after Saturday’s tie.
Sophomore midfielders Christopher Mueller and Mike Catalano both scored in the draw, as the duo rank first and second on the team with five and three goals, respectively.
Making his 12th start of the season, sophomore goalie Adrian Remeniuk added eight saves, while pulling his personal record to 4-5-3.
The Hoosiers are coming off of a 1-0 shutout win over Michigan, with sophomore defenseman Grant Lillard providing all of the game’s offense. His four goals rank second on the team, trailing only forward Femi Hollinger-Janzen, whose six goals and 16 points are both good for third most in the Big Ten. Junior Colin Webb, who leads the conference with seven shutouts and allows just 0.82 goals per game, leads Indiana in net.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, after which the Badgers will head back home to close out the regular season against Northwestern Wednesday.
