It’s had already been a rough couple of weeks for the Wisconsin men’s hockey team (1-5-2 WCHA, 1-7-2 overall) and things only got worse this weekend as the Badgers were swept at home by Minnesota State (3-5-0, 5-5-2) in consecutive 4-2 losses.
The team is on a seven game winless streak and hasn’t found a victory since Oct. 28. The Badgers have also not found any luck at home, posting a 0-4-0 record at the Kohl Center.
“I think it’s been a different thing every night,” head coach Mike Eaves said about his team’s struggles at home. “It was our slow start tonight, not finding a way to score goals. We don’t have a lot of room for error right now.”
The Badgers gave up the first goal in both games and never managed to take a lead for any duration during the series.
After the Mavericks took a 2-1 lead in the second period Friday, redshirt senior forward Ryan Little found the back of the net to tie the game. It would not be enough though, as Maverick senior forward Eriah Hayes would find the back of the net on the power play early in the third for what would be the deciding goal.
It was a similar story Saturday night, with the Badgers falling behind 3-1 early, before junior forward Michael Mersch tipped in a power play shot from sophomore defenseman Jake McCabe to draw within one.
Once again, it would not be enough for the Badgers, as Hayes scored his second goal of the night and third of the series to seal the Mavericks’s second 4-2 victory.
Wisconsin has only scored more than two goals in a game once this season, and with last year’s leading point scorer, junior Mark Zengerle out with a broken finger, that trend continued this weekend.
Mersch has been the only Badger thus far who has been able to find the back of the net with consistency. The Park Ridge, Ill., native has scored a team-high eight goals this season, including two this weekend, but even he doesn’t have an answer for his team’s struggles so far.
“I think more guys have to pick it up, maybe prepare better before the game,” Mersch said. “I’m not really sure, though I can’t really speak for anybody else, but it needs to happen for us to win games.”
The Badgers have particularly had problems on the power play this season, scoring just four goals on 32 opportunities on the year after going 1-for-10 against Minnesota State.
While Wisconsin has had its problems scoring goals consistently this season, they have also had issues keeping the puck out of their own net. Sophomore goaltenders Landon Peterson and Joel Rumpel each started one game against the Mavericks, but either found little success.
Peterson surrendered four goals in Friday’s loss while Rumpel gave up three goals on just nine shots in the first period Saturday before being pulled. Returning two experienced netminders seemingly gave the Badgers an advantage in net on paper, but neither goalie has been able to find any consistent success so far this season.
“From the bench, two out of the three goals seemed to go through him,” Eaves said of Rumpel’s first period Saturday. “I felt like he was fighting it a little bit. I know he really wanted to play tonight and play well and make a difference. It was kind of a gut feeling in what I saw on the bench.”
The Badgers have not been able to put much in the win column so far this season, but Eaves doesn’t want the fans to give up just yet.
“Stay with us—this group has not quit,” Eaves said. “They work hard. We’ll get healthier and we will have some difference makers in our lineup and they’ll like watching this team so stay with us.”
