The Wisconsin men’s hockey team lost in the best-of-three series against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, ending the Badgers’ 2024-25 season.
Night one: Silver lining
The first score of the game came at the end of the first period. Badger forward Quinn Finley tipped a quick shot from the right side toward the left side of the net. Graduate student forward Ryland Mosley used his stick to knock the puck out of the air and into the net.
The Badgers finished the period up, 1-0 and no penalties on either side were awarded in the first period.
Wisconsin came out strong in the second frame. Sophomore forward Owen Mehlenbacher scored the Badger’s second goal of the night. The forward flew up the ice alongside freshman forward Adam Pietila, who made a last minute pass to wide-open Mehlenbacher. Ohio State’s goalie was out of position and all Mehlenbacher had to do was make the shot from the crease.
Pietila then picked up a minor penalty for tripping, but Wisconsin killed it off. Of the three power play chances throughout the night, neither team capitalized on the advantage.
Junior defender Simon Tassy put the Badgers up 3-0 in the second period. Tassy and junior forward Christian Fitzgerald kept some defensive pressure on Ohio State as the team attempted to make the transition down the ice to offense. But, Tassy and Fitzgerald managed to work the puck back into the hands of Badgers and a scramble at the net resulted in Tassy’s score.
Freshman forward Ryan Botterill grabbed the final penalty of the night for Wisconsin, two minutes for interference. Wisconsin killed this penalty as well.
Near the end of the second period, Wisconsin received a power play advantage, but Ohio State killed their penalty.
Ohio State scored their single goal of the night 4:19 into the third period.
The remaining time in the third period was uneventful, besides the final Wisconsin score for the night, an empty-net goal tallied by junior forward Kyle Kukkonen.
Wisconsin won the game 4-1 and recorded a 34-29 shots on goal advantage. Badger goalie Tommy Scarfone made 28 saves.
Night two: Even score
Wisconsin nearly repeated their Friday night opening with a score 16 minutes into the first period Saturday night. Sophomore defender Joe Palodichuk got the puck off of a play and raced toward the net from the left side, shot to the top right corner and celebrated with a quick skate around the back on the net when the horn sounded.
This was Palodichuk’s first goal of the season. The score came off of a power play advantage for Wisconsin, the first either team capitalized on during this competition.
Between periods, Palodichuk told the broadcast, “I think it’s fun to play with a lead. I think it’s more simple that way.”
Early into the second period, a player from both teams received a minor penalty for roughing after the whistle. The four-on-four play didn’t result in a goal on either side.
6:19 into the second frame, Kukkonen scored for the Badgers. Kukkonen and graduate student forward Cody Laskosky raced up the ice together for a two-on-one with Ohio State’s goalie. Wisconsin won the battle and Kukkonen came out with his tenth goal of the season.
With less than four minutes left in the period, Ohio State recorded their first goal of the night.
Fitzgerald tallied the next penalty for Wisconsin, a two-minute minor for high-sticking. Wisconsin killed this penalty as well and ended the second period 2-1, a closer score at this time than the previous night.
Wisconsin received two more penalties in the third period, one on freshman defender Jack Phelan for crossing checking and the other on Fitzgerald for hooking. The Badgers pushed through these disadvantages and killed both power play opportunities for Ohio State.
Finley had a great look for the Badgers late in the third period. Ohio State pulled their goalie and Finley was able to get close to the net for a shot, but he missed this opportunity.
Ohio State tied the game at 2-2 in the end of the third period, forcing overtime. The Buckeyes scored the final goal of the night eight minutes into the first overtime period, and won the second competition of the series.
Wisconsin and Ohio State finished the best-of-three series with a Sunday game to break the 1-1 tie.
Night three: The tie-breaker
Ohio State scored early in Sunday’s final series game, putting the Buckeyes up with 13:58 to go in the first period. The Buckeyes offense caught Wisconsin goalie Tommy Scarfone far out of net position to make the score 1-0.
Less than a minute later, Wisconsin scored on their second power play of the series. Finley redeemed himself after missing an open goal shot late in the second game when he received a great pass from Laskosky and fired the puck into the net from the right side. Finley’s goal came only four seconds into the power play.
The third game had the most penalties, with three handed out to both teams during just the first period.
The second period of this game was silent. The score remained 1-1 and no penalties were awarded.
Ohio State gained the upper hand just under 10 minutes into the third. Three penalties on Wisconsin during those opening minutes allowed the Buckeyes to find their first power play goal of the series.
The Buckeyes sealed their advancement in the tournament with a third goal over the halfway mark in the final period. This put Wisconsin down 3-1.
Mosley managed to score one more for the Badgers when they added an extra attacker to the mix. This wasn’t enough to tie the game up and Wisconsin lost 3-2.
The end
The Badgers wrapped up their 2024-25 season with these three games which brought their final record to 13-21-3.
Ohio State will advance in the Big Ten Tournament and face Penn State, the team that upset higher-ranked Michigan.
Once the tournament concludes, 16 teams will be selected for the NCAA Championship Tournament. The Wisconsin Badgers will not be one of them.
These were the final college games for a few Badgers, including defenders Daniel Laatsch and Anthony Kehrer, goaltender Scarfone and forwards Mosely, Laskoksy and Lindmark.
