The Wisconsin Badgers (0-2-0) were swept by No. 14 Ohio State (4-0-0) in Columbus last weekend.
In game one, the Badgers fell behind thanks to an Ohio State goal in every period, coming from Patrick Guzzo, Leslie Jaedon and Stephen Halliday respectively. The goal from Halliday came while Ohio State had a man advantage.
The only goal for Wisconsin came late in the third period, when Ben Dexheimer faked a slap shot, but instead slid it to Cruz Lucius who had a wide open net to score on. After a goal in the preseason exhibition game, and now his first official goal as a Badger, Lucius looks like a fantastic addition to the Badgers offense.
In game two, the Badgers looked like they were shot out of a cannon. With just over three minutes to play in the first, Jack Horbach got in front of a pass, forced a turnover and took it the other way to make it 1-0. Just over a minute later and on the power play, some great passing from Mathieu De St. Phalle and Charlie Stramel allowed Brock Caufield to capitalize on a one-timer. At the end of one, the Badgers led 2-0.
Less than a minute into the second period, the Badgers found themselves on a penalty kill. After clearing the puck down the ice, Ohio State goalkeeper Jakub Dobes made a lazy mistake which allowed Owen Lindmark to take advantage and make it 3-0. Ohio State came storming back however as Travis Treloar scored on the power play halfway through the second, and Cam Thiesing made it 3-2 38 seconds later.
Men’s hockey: Badgers host home opening series against St. Cloud State
Just over halfway into the third period, Jake Wise tied the game for OSU on the power play. With just under five minutes left in regulation, OSU defenseman Cole McWard sped past Ben Dexheimer and scored to make it 4-3.
Wisconsin lost a heartbreaker in game two to allow Ohio State to complete the sweep. There were several factors that really hurt the Badgers this weekend.
For starters, it felt like Wisconsin was always on their back foot. In the series as a whole, the Badgers were outshot 73-50, and that’s not including the 42 blocks that the Badgers had. The inability to get the puck out of the defensive zone caused Wisconsin to take too many penalties. When they were on the penalty kill, it was shaky.
Over the two games, Ohio State scored on three of 10 power plays. Individually, the Badgers struggled to contain the Buckeyes centers, especially Treloar and Halliday. Treloar finished the weekend with a goal and assist, while Halliday had a goal and three assists. Lastly, they just couldn’t get past Jakub Dobes. He was fantastic all weekend, saving a total of 46 out of 50 shots.
On the other hand, there are some positives to take away for the Badgers. De St. Phalle looked good this weekend as he notched two assists. Stramel and the rest of the centers were great on faceoffs this weekend. Wisconsin won the faceoff battle 69-51, and Stramel finished 25 for 37 on faceoff attempts, winning 67.5% of the time. It also looks like Lucius is going to be a key cog in the Badgers offense as a freshman. Lastly, although the Badgers had trouble getting the puck out of their defensive zone, they were not afraid to get in front of the puck. They had 42 blocks as opposed to 18 for Ohio State.
The heartbreak of giving up a three goal lead leaves a bad taste in the mouth of Badger fans heading into week two, as it would have been great to walk away from Columbus with a split. But Tony Granato and crew have to find a way to build off of the positives for this team, as they continue a stretch of challenging games to open up the season. Hopefully the Badger faithful will be loud at the home opener next weekend, as No. 10 St. Cloud State (2-0-0) comes into town.
