MINNEAPOLIS – I guess this is growing up.

Going into a tough road series against Minnesota, the young Wisconsin men’s hockey team wasn’t fazed, going 1-0-1 on the weekend. Head coach Mike Eaves had seven freshmen in his lineup for the two games, a 6-0 pummeling Friday, followed by a gutsy 3-3 tie Saturday, which featured the Badgers overcoming two deficits.

Eaves had said all season the big thing he wanted to see from his team is consistency. In getting three out of four points on the weekend on the road, his team took a big step toward that.

“This was a big-time environment, this was playoff hockey, this was regional hockey,” Eaves said. “This kind of experience will help our freshmen grow immensely.”

In Wisconsin’s comeback tie Saturday, freshman Mark Zengerle assisted on all three goals, flashing his awareness and vision in a nice pass for Justin Schultz’s goal to make it 2-1 and finding Schultz in the play that led to Jordy Muray’s first goal of the night. Zengerle finished the weekend with a goal and five assists.

Friday night was the statistically impressive night for UW’s rookies, as freshmen scored four of the Badgers’ six goals. Zengerle notched a power-play tally, while Tyler Barnes got a wrap-around goal to end the game’s scoring.

Michael Mersch was also a big factor, scoring two goals Friday – his second straight series with a two-goal game.

Even though UW’s all-freshman fourth line, featuring Barnes, Jefferson Dahl and Jason Clark, got just one point on the weekend, the trio finished a combined plus-3 on the weekend.

“Our freshman line, that fourth line, played the best game they played all year,” Murray said Friday. “I thought Barnes played his best game all year and they got rewarded with a couple goals.”

Eaves’ biggest gamble might have been putting freshmen defender Frankie Simonelli and Joe Faust together as a defensive pair. While that freed up Eaves to pair Jake Gardiner and Justin Schultz – two very offensively-talented blue liners – together, it placed a lot of pressure on the two rookies. The two went even Saturday and each were plus-2 Friday.

Neither of the two were on the ice for any of Minnesota’s goals, though two of them came with Wisconsin on the penalty kill, which Faust and Simonelli don’t see time on.

“The nicest compliment I can give them right after the game without watching film is, I didn’t notice you,” Eaves said of the two. “That is a compliment for young defensemen, that means they didn’t cough it up, they didn’t trip over their own feet in the one-on-one situations. They were solid, so that was nice growth for them.”

UW goaltender Scott Gudmandson was happy with the team’s play in Friday’s shutout.

“They didn’t play like freshmen,” he said. “You’ve got Michael Mersch is playing really well right now, putting the puck in the net. I thought Barnesy played pretty well, Frankie and Faust played pretty solid back on defense. They’re coming into their own, they’re playing pretty well right now.”

Success down low

Of the nine goals the Badgers scored in the series, all but one of them came from right on the Minnesota doorstep.

Friday night, the Gophers were victimized in front of their own net, giving up two wrap-around attempts, one to Mersch, who opened the game’s scoring. Murray and sophomore center Derek Lee were the beneficiaries of the Badgers buying time behind the UM net, as both connected on one-timers from right in front of Gophers goaltender Alex Kangas.

“They call them the pits, they’re in both corners and in front of the net,” Eaves said. “There’s six of them. If you can find ways to win battles and find pucks, you give yourself an excellent opportunity to win games.”

Crashing the net worked well for UW, as Mersch’s second goal came as he followed a Simonelli shot that squeaked by Kangas and was able to poke the puck in before the goaltender could fall on it.

Murray’s willingness to follow shots Saturday earned him his two rebound goals, both of which tied the game.

“Good things happen when you go to the net,” Mersch said.

Eaves has always stressed that his forwards need to get to the net and work in the dirty areas. Succeeding in those areas in a tough road series only bodes well, as the Badgers face top WCHA teams North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth in the coming weeks.

“We hadn’t had a signature road game at all this year, except for [Friday] night,” Schultz said. “Coming from behind like that, especially on the road against a good team like this is definitely character-building for a team.”