On Friday night, the University of Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team (12-19-3, 7-16-1 Big Ten) defeated No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes (21-11-2, 14-9-1) 4-1.
Having lost their previous match Sunday, an exhibition against the U.S. National Under-18 Team, the Badgers bounced back when it mattered.
This year’s Big Ten men’s hockey conference tournament culminates another great regular season, offering all seven teams a chance at a trophy. The lower six teams are pitted against each other in best-of-three series, with the regular season co-champions Michigan State receiving a bye until next weekend’s semifinals.
Seeded as the No. 6 seed within the conference tournament, Wisconsin was the underdog again, having lost all four regular season games to the No. 3 Buckeyes. While bittersweet, Wisconsin’s prior conference tournament loss to Ohio State in the 2024 edition displays just how feasible an upset can be. Wisconsin finished the 2023-24 regular season in second place. But the last-seeded Buckeyes took this series, 2-1.
Heading back to the present moment, the Badgers opened comfortably in Nationwide Arena. Forward Ryland Mosley, a graduate student transfer from Michigan Tech, drew first blood 18:51 into the period. He scored his 17th goal of the season, a sharp redirect at the left post off a pass from sophomore Quinn Finley.
Returning to the ice for the second period, sophomore Owen Mehlenbacher doubled Wisconsin’s lead with his fourth goal of the season. Junior Tyson Dyck took the puck and found freshman Adam Pietila on the attack, combining to assist Mehlenbacher, 3:04 into the period.
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The Badgers continued to lay shots on Ohio State, surviving a power play before adding a third goal. Junior Christian Fitzgerald set up sophomore Zach Schulz, whose shot ripped off the pipework. Before it could fall to the ice, junior Simon Tassy tapped the puck home, 9:09 into the period. The teams exchanged power play advantages, but no goals would come before the period’s end.
Ohio State finally pulled a goal back, but 4:19 into the third period proved to be too late. Buckeye senior Brent Johnson was able to scoop one in to bring the game to 3-1. The Badgers closed out the rest of the game through a disciplined performance, padding their lead with 1:46 remaining. Fitzgerald added his second assist of the night, finding junior Kyle Kukkonen for an open-net goal. Senior goaltender Tommy Scarfone finished with 26 saves, a 0.966 save percentage.
The lower seeds won all around the conference on Friday, with No. 5 Penn State and No. 7 Notre Dame winning against No. 4 Michigan and No. 2 Minnesota, respectively.
While there is still a series to claim, the Badgers looked very promising against a stellar opponent. This rivalry runs deep in the Big Ten conference tournament, as Wisconsin’s last conference tournament championship was through a victory over Ohio State in 2014. They have everything to play for on Saturday, with game two taking place at 6 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio. If Ohio State wins game two, game three will take place on Sunday at 6 p.m. These events will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.