Coming off a pair of losses in Alaska, the No. 18 Badgers (0-2-0 overall) look to bounce back with a pair of games this weekend against Northern Michigan (0-0-0 overall) in a neutral site series at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
These two teams faced off last season at the Kohl Center where the Badgers swept the Wildcats 5-2 and 2-1. Unfortunately for the Badgers, the team lost seven of their top eight scorers from last season and brought in 11 freshmen to replace the talented crop of departed players.
To open the season, the Badgers faced Alaska and Alaska-Anchorage in the Kendall Hockey Classic where the inexperience of the young team was on full display.
Against Alaska, the Badgers struggled to get anything going on offense, mustering only 14 shots while wasting a stellar goaltending performance from senior net-minder Landon Peterson, who stopped 30 shots in the 1-0 defeat.
For his efforts, Peterson was named to the All-Tournament team, despite playing in only one game.
2014 Hobey Baker Award finalist Joel Rumpel did not play against Alaska. After taking a midterm at 6:45 a.m. Friday, the senior goaltender only played the second of the two games, conceding four goals on 25 shots.
The Badgers did get big contributions from a number of freshmen, with all six points on the weekend coming from newcomers to the team.
The first goal-scorer of the weekend was six-foot-six-inch forward Matt Ustaski, with assists coming from fellow freshmen Ryan Wagner and Keegan Ford.
The Badgers got their second and final goal of the weekend from redshirt freshman Tim Davison, coming from Cameron Hughes and Jake Linhart.
Unfortunately for the Badgers, it looks like they will be without the services of Davison and fellow defenseman Eddie Wittchow, both of whom suffered concussions over the weekend.
Two players to watch this weekend are Joseph LaBate and Grant Besse.
LaBate, a senior from Eagan, Minnesota, is the alternate captain this season after scoring 22 points last year. He had two points last season against Northern Michigan including a goal and is the leading returning scorer, finishing sixth on the team last season with 11 goals and 11 assists.
Besse, a sophomore from Plymouth, Minnesota, is a talented goal scorer, netting eight goals last season including a pair of game winners on the senior-laden team.
This year, Besse and LaBate will need to step up in a big way as the talented but inexperienced crop of freshmen will need to look up to the two players who have notched the most success to date.
The Badgers take two weeks off after this weekend’s series before playing their first games at the Kohl Center against former WCHA foe North Dakota Nov. 7-8. It’s the latest home opener for Wisconsin since the 1997-’98 season.
Both Wisconsin and Northern Michigan will look to notch their first win of the season. The puck drops at 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday from the Resch Center.
