The Badgers will travel to Big Rapids, Mich. this weekend with hopes of avenging last week’s nightmare performance in Boston. Despite being outscored 10-1 in its last two games, Wisconsin has remained confident with its sights set high on the Ferris State Bulldogs this weekend.
According to head coach Mike Eaves, the Badgers have displayed many bright spots in an otherwise slow start to its season.
“We had a lot of opportunities to kill penalties tonight, and for the most part we did a pretty good job,” Eaves said after Wisconsin’s 4-1 loss at Boston University.
Eaves also praised the strong play of freshman goaltender Matt Jurusik hinting that the team may have found its goalie moving forward.
Unlike UW, the Bulldogs began the season on a positive note. Led by junior forwards Kyle Schempp and Chad McDonald, Ferris State won its first game of the season, but has since cooled down.
Despite having only appeared in four games, both Schempp and McDonald have let their presences be known. Schempp has netted two goals to compliment his lone assist while McDonald has set up a pair of goals and scored one. Together, UW defensemen Jake Linhart and Kevin Schulze will shadow every move both Schempp and McDonald make throughout the series, hoping to slow them.
On the other side of the puck, Wisconsin will look to feed junior forward Grant Besse as many snapshots as feasible. Besse, who had a breakout season as a sophomore one year ago, has not scored since his game-tying, last-minute goal in the season opener.
However, Besse is not the only Wisconsin star the team will look to rely on come Friday night. Sophomore forward Adam Rockwood will undoubtedly draw much attention from the Bulldogs whenever he is on the ice. The underclassmen has managed to tally three points despite having only four games under his belt.
If Wisconsin is to earn its first win of the young season this weekend, both Besse and Rockwood figure to play major roles in the outcome.
