The Wisconsin men’s hockey team (1-3-0) will face No. 1 Denver University in Denver this upcoming weekend after suffering both an overtime and regulation loss to Ohio State last weekend.
Wisconsin battled Ohio State but ultimately lost even with the Badgers’ leading goal-scorer sophomore Quinn Finley putting up a tough performance (3-2-5). Graduate student Ryland Mosley (2-2-4) also had a goal against Ohio State, and freshman Gavin Morrissey (1-3-4) came out of the series with another assist.
Wisconsin senior goalie Tommy Scarfone played game one on Friday and had a .857 save percentage. Sophomore William Gramme played on Saturday and earned a .892 save percentage. Gramme leads both goalies with one win and one loss this season, with Scarfone following at two losses.
The Badgers fell in the rankings to No. 20 after being swept by Ohio State, who rose from unranked to No. 19.
The undefeated Denver Pioneers (4-0-0) look to advance their four-game winning streak after two series wins over the University of Alaska Anchorage and Northeastern at home. The Badgers are assumed to be facing senior goaltender Matt Davis, who has played all four games for Denver and holds a .916 save percentage coming into this weekend.
Wisconsin hasn’t faced Denver since 2019, where the Badgers were swept at home. Even before that, the Badgers haven’t won a game against the Pioneers since playing them six times since 2012 save for the 2015 tie game in Madison.
Even though the Badgers lead the history of games with a 76-64-13 record, they will need to pick it up on offense if they want to beat the No. 1 ranked team. The losses against OSU didn’t come from lost face-offs or shots on goal — they both came from the inability to crack OSU's defense and power play conversion.
The Badgers are now 3-17 on the powerplay, accumulating a .176 percentage. Denver plays fast with quick shots, averaging five goals per game, so the Badgers need to match speed and skill to bring home some wins away.
Game one will start at 8 p.m. CST on Friday and 7 p.m. CST on Saturday at Magness Arena in Denver.
