No. 12 Wisconsin men’s hockey (21-12-2) received a bid in the NCAA tournament due to the No. 9 Dartmouth (23-7-4) 2-1 overtime win against Princeton in the ECAC championship game on Saturday.
Wisconsin was sitting in a precarious position in the rankings. A Princeton or Clarkson win in the ECAC, or a Ohio State win over Michigan in the Big Ten, would have resulted in an unranked team taking a spot from a ranked team in the tournament.
Only one scenario had to occur for Wisconsin to secure a spot in the tournament, as only two unranked team wins would have pushed the Badgers below the remaining top 10 team threshold. Wisconsin secured the 3-seed due to Dartmouth's championship win and UConn’s No. 11 ranking.
The bracket was announced Sunday, with six conference winners advancing with automatic bids and the remaining 10 teams selected by a committee based on team performance.
3-seed Wisconsin was placed in the Worcester Region and will play 2-seed Dartmouth. 1-seed Michigan State (25-8-2) faces 4-seed UConn (20-12-5) in the first game of the region.
Wisconsin is traveling the farthest compared to the rest of their region, heading to neutral-site DCU Center as they take on Dartmouth for the first time in program history.
The Big Green
Tearing through the ECAC conference, Dartmouth is entering the tournament with impressive statistics. With 3.6 goals per game and a .128 shot percentage, the Big Green have held their opponents to 2.1 goals per game and a .086 shot percentage.
Wisconsin holds a .110 shot percentage and allowed their opponents to build a steady .117 percentage. Breaking through Dartmouth defense and beating them on the back end is crucial.
Wisconsin’s stats took a hit after a slow end to the year, but they can draw penalties. With their opponents averaging 5.4 penalties per game, No. 7 ranked Wisconsin comes into the tournament with a .270 power play percentage.
Dartmouth is drowning with a .176 power play percentage, but their penalty kill is ranked No. 2 in the country. Wisconsin needs to put pressure on the man-advantage and prepare to face goalie Emett Croteau who’s heading into tournament play with a .922 save percentage, 11th among all goalies.
Both Daniel Hauser and Eli Pulver are below a .900 save percentage after shaky performances earlier in the season. Both are capable goaltenders who have proven themselves in tight games, but Dartmouth holds the advantage as Croteau has owned the net for the Big Green.
Leading Dartmouth in goals, points, shots and shot percentage, Hayden Stavroff is ranked No. 3 with Michigan State’s Porter Martone — both averaging 1.42 points per game. Stavroff has 29 goals and 48 points in 34 games where he’s dominated the ice with his .266 shot percentage.
Hank Cleaves trails second in points for the Big Green with 17 goals and 39 points in 34 games. Cleaves is ranked No. 20 in points per game with a shot accuracy of .218 — leagues ahead of the Badgers coming into this series.
Still leading the Badgers is Gavin Morrissey with eight goals and 33 points in 32 games. Tied for No. 37 in points per game, Morrissey is holding Wisconsin afloat with a 1.60 shot percentage and his reliability on the top line.
Wisconsin will depend on Ben Dexheimer and Joe Palodichuk on the blue line. Both defenders will see a fast and disciplined Dartmouth team taking shots on the goaltender that Wisconsin head coach Mike Hastings selects.
Dartmouth’s strength of schedule is not comparable with Wisconsin’s, but they’ve had a successful season. The Big 10 is competitive — sending four teams to the tournament. Wisconsin has faced difficult teams this season, but they have to play their best hockey this week.
Tournament overview
The semifinals and championship game are held in Las Vegas on April 9 and 11 at T-Mobile Arena. For Wisconsin to reach the Frozen Four, they have to come out of the Worcester Region with wins against conference champion Dartmouth and a national championship contender in Michigan State.
In the Albany Region, 1-seed Michigan plays Bently and Minnesota Duluth plays Penn State. In the Loveland Region, 1-seed Western Michigan plays Minnesota State Mankato and Denver plays Cornell. In the Sioux Falls Region, 1-seed North Dakota plays Merrimack and Providence faces Quinnipiac.
Wisconsin plays Dartmouth 4 p.m. Thursday in Worcester, MA in what could be the Badgers’ last time on the ice this season.
