The Badgers will begin postseason play in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals against No. 22 Penn State Thursday in St. Paul, Minn.
Despite yielding a 1-3 record this season against the Nittany Lions, UW remained close in every game, losing two games by a single goal.
One of the main reasons the Badgers have been able to keep games so tight this year is due in large part to the play of freshman goalie Matt Jurusik. The Badger netminder comes into Thursday having allowed 3.44 goal per game.
On the other side of the ice sits Eamon McAdam. The Penn State goalie enters the quarterfinals sporting a 92 percent save percentage on the season.
On the offensive end, the Badgers will look to keep keep freshman forward Luke Kunin hot. The new addition to Mike Eaves' squad was recently named to the Big Ten First-Team All-Freshman team to go along with his team-high 18 goals this season.
Equally dangerous, however, is forward Grant Besse. The junior leads the Badgers in points (32) and has emerged as the team’s most valuable weapon on both sides of the ice.
Penn State also has its handful of dynamic playmakers. If Wisconsin has any chance of upsetting the Nittany Lions Thursday, the team will have to concentrate its attention on both David Goodwin and Andrew Sturtz. Goodwin currently leads the Nittany Lions with 34 points on the season, while Sturtz comes into the game with a team-high 18 goals.
If the Badgers have any hopes of salvaging their roller coaster of a season, it starts with a win Thursday in St. Paul.
