After a spectacular opening weekend sweeping Boston College, the Badgers suffered their first loss of the season Friday. It was handed to the No. 13 Badgers by the unranked Clarkson Golden Knights during their New York road trip. Although the Badgers showed up on Friday and sophomore Sean Dhooghe had a career night, the team fell short to the Golden Knights losing 2–4.

Offensively, the team struggled to find momentum and on power moves, they were overcome by the Golden Knights who just had more dominance on the ice during the important moments. Even though the team would have liked to walk away with a win, some good moments, including Dhooghe’s two goals of the night, made for a strong game overall.

Saturday night the Badgers found their groove again, blasting past the St. Lawrence Saints in a 7–1 win on their home ice. An added bonus? For the second night in a row, Dhooghe scored two goals in the victory.

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Dhooghe, who had a total of six goals throughout the 2017-18 season, is showing a whole new intensity this season as the forward already has five goals in the last three games. The good news is Dhooghe is not the only Badger stepping up to the plate, and as more Badgers start to meet this intensity, it should chalk up to a phenomenally fun hockey season for the Badgers both to play and watch.

Also on Saturday, freshman Daniel Lebedeff, a new goalkeeper, stepped into the ring. Lebedeff went on to make 20 saves in the win over the Saints. Senior Seamus Malone complimented Lebedeff’s play in a conversation with UW Athletics.

“He played great. He looked confident. He was making big saves for us,” Malone said. “It’s exciting to see that he was comfortable back there and playing his game.”

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After their loss on Friday, the Badgers only fell one rank in the USCHO Rankings from No. 13 to No. 14. But early in the season, this change in rank is not extremely significant, as Wisconsin has yet to enter their conference schedule.

This weekend, the Badgers take on Michigan Tech at the Kohl Center Friday and Saturday night. Both puck drops are scheduled for 7 p.m. on what is sure to be a fun, hockey-filled Halloween weekend in Madison.