Big Ten hockey officially makes its debut in Madison this weekend as Wisconsin (0-0-2 Big Ten, 4-5-1 overall) welcomes new conference rival Penn State (0-0-0, 3-7-1) to the Kohl Center for a weekend series beginning Friday night.
MINNEAPOLIS — Saturday at Mariucci Arena, it all came down to one play.
With its first road victory on the line, No. 12 Wisconsin (4-3-1) traveled to Oxford, Ohio, to take on No. 8 Miami-Ohio (7-4-1) over the weekend.
Following two bye weeks split by a home series against Lake Superior State, the No. 12 Wisconsin Badgers (3-2-1 overall) will face off against the No. 8 Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (2-2-0 NCHC, 6-3-1) this weekend in Oxford, Ohio.
The Wisconsin Badgers (3-2-1) bounced back from last week’s underwhelming performance in Boston against Lake Superior State (4-1-1) this weekend at the Kohl Center.
The No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers (4-2-0 WCHA, 4-2-0 overall) will host the Lindenwood Lady Lions (0-0-0 CHA, 0-7-1 overall) in what will be the Badgers’ first non-conference series of the season.
In the opening series of the inaugural Big Ten hockey season, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team (2-0-0) wasted no time defending its No. 3 ranking as it took on Northern Michigan (0-2-0) this weekend at the Kohl Center, earning 5-2 and 2-1 victories over the the Wildcats in its first home-opening sweep since 2004.
MANCHESTER N.H.—After an impressive run through the WCHA Tournament, the team’s first Broadmoor trophy in over a decade and a spot in the NCAA tournament that nobody could have predicted a few weeks ago, the 2012-’13 Badgers season finally came to an end.
This past weekend, I was asked by a friend—one who is in no a way a fan of any athletics whatsoever—what do I love so much about sports? If I am honest, I didn’t have an immediate answer. I couldn’t put my finger on just what made sports so great. Fortunately though, the Wisconsin men’s hockey team explained it for me.
After earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with three wins in three days in the WCHA Final Five, the No. 14 Wisconsin men’s hockey team (13-8-7 WCHA, 22-12-7 overall) has learned that they will take on No. 5 UMass-Lowell in Manchester, N.H., next weekend.
180 minutes. Nine periods. Three games. One weekend.
The No. 4 seeded Wisconsin men's hockey team continued its hot streak Friday, riding three unanswered goals to a 4-1 victory over No. 1 seed St. Cloud State at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul Minnesota.
After facing off four times in the regular season, the No. 14 Wisconsin men’s hockey team will take on No. 8 Minnesota State one more time Thursday in St. Paul, Minn., in the first game of the WCHA Final Five. The Mavericks (16-11-1 WCHA, 24-12-3 overall) swept the Badgers (13-8-7, 19-12-7) back in November, falling 4-2 in back-to-back nights. Wisconsin rebounded, however, taking down Minnesota State with consecutive overtime wins in the teams’ January series off goals by senior defenseman John Ramage. “I think that definitely helps us going into the game, but we’ve been playing playoff hockey the last couple months and we’re just going to need to keep it the same,” junior center Jefferson Dahl said of their previous overtime wins. “There’s a lot of similarities between our team and their team. When we played them early on, we weren’t at our best, but we know it’s going to be a battle like any team in the conference is.” While the game has obvious implications for the rest of the WCHA tournament, it also has further reaching consequences on a national scale. Both teams are fighting for a spot in the NCAA tournament, and while the Mavericks are currently sitting inside the bubble, the Badgers need to win to keep their hopes alive. Wisconsin is coming off a two-game sweep of Minnesota-Duluth in the opening round of the conference playoffs last weekend, while Minnesota State was forced to go to three games before finally taking down Nebraska-Omaha. Despite the extra rest, head coach Mike Eaves is unsure of any advantage that may bring for UW. “I’ve seen teams—when we coached in the American Hockey League—play three games in three nights in three different cities and play their best hockey on the third night,” Eaves said. “We’re not looking at that as ‘We have an advantage because they played three games.’ It’s just, we have to get there and play well.” This will be the first taste of the Final Five for many of the Badgers, having not been since 2010. Despite a lack of experience, though, Eaves does not expect his players to get caught up in the hype of a win-or-go-home type game. “I think there’s general excitement, and being on a big stage is what all athletes have dreamed about,” Eaves said. “This is our 12th-straight weekend [with games on the schedule] so we’ve been playing for awhile, so I think if there is an energy boost we get from being on this stage, that’s a welcome thing at this time.” Minnesota State is led by sophomore forward Matt Leitner, who leads the team with 45 points, and senior forward Eriah Hayes, who has a team-high 19 goals. The Mavericks also posses the No. 4 ranked power play in the country, but after keeping Duluth’s No. 5 power play unit off the score sheet last weekend, the Badgers know what they will be getting into. “We just have to keep working hard,” Dahl said. “[Minnesota State] likes to go cross-ice just like [Duluth] does. Last weekend we did well blocking shots and taking away lanes for them.” With a win, the Badgers would advance to play No. 1 seeded St. Cloud State in the second round Friday. If Wisconsin wants to continue its season past Thursday afternoon, it is going to have to do just that. “I think it’s going to be a classic battle just because it’s two wins each, this is kind of like the rubber match on a big stage,” Eaves said. “Both teams are playing for a lot, so it should be one heck of a game.” Senior center Derek Lee (knee) will travel with the team but will not play this week, and sophomore defenseman Jake McCabe (lower-body) is a game-time decision for Thursday.
The Wisconsin men's hockey team will play Minnesota State in the quarterfinals of the WCHA Final Five on Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
The hardest games to win are the ones to end another team’s season.
After earning a win last weekend when it mattered the most, the No. 14 Wisconsin men’s hockey team will host Minnesota-Duluth in a best-of-three series at the Kohl Center this weekend.
It’s 7:00 on a Friday night, and as the lights dim over the Kohl Center ice and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” fades in, five words flash across the big screen, juxtaposed over a highlight reel of the season’s biggest moments: “Wisconsin, this is your team.”
MINNEAPOLIS — Win and you are in. That was the magnitude of the semifinal matchup in the WCHA Final Face-Off between the second-seeded Wisconsin women’s hockey team and third-seeded North Dakota Friday night in Minneapolis at Ridder Arena.
Heading into the last weekend of the season, No. 14 Wisconsin has the opportunity to finish anywhere from first to seventh place in the conference as it hosts No. 8 St. Cloud State at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.
Last season, Wisconsin (17-9-2-2 WCHA, 23-9-2 overall) found itself heading into the postseason confident off a regular season title and with national title aspirations as the country’s No. 1 team. After falling short of that goal, this year’s Badgers will look to advance through the playoffs in the underdog role.
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