The Badgers finished off the year with a bang on the ice.
After playing some more inspired hockey over the last six or so weeks, the Wisconsin Badgers will head into 2025 with some momentum after heading down I-94 to take the Holiday Face-Off title at Fiserv Forum.
With the two tournament wins, the Badgers pushed their streak to 11 consecutive games without a regulation loss, and have now won eight of their last 10.
Wisconsin (9-10-1 overall, 5-7 B1G) dominated Ferris State (6-11-2 overall) on Saturday night to the tune of an 8-0 shutout for senior goaltender Tommy Scarfone. If you scored once for the Badgers, you eventually scored twice. NCAA-leading goal scorer Quinn Finley opened the scoring in the game’s first five minutes. The sophomore then added a second tally toward the end of a five-goal second period for Wisconsin.
Also scoring a couple of goals for the Badgers were graduate students Ryland Mosley and Cody Laskosky, as well as junior Kyle Kukkonen, who added his second in the final seconds of the third period.
The UConn Huskies (8-8-1 overall) took down Alaska for the right to play Wisconsin on Sunday. The championship game started out as a rock fight, with neither team finding the net in the first two periods, but ended with a bang as both teams combined for seven third-period goals. Graduate student and captain Owen Lindmark lit the lamp first with a shorthanded goal. Finley followed up with his third goal of the weekend minutes later on the power play pushing the lead to two.
UConn battled back with two unanswered goals of their own to draw even with under five minutes to play. The tie would be short-lived, as junior Christian Fitzgerald put the Badgers back on top 97 seconds later, with Laskosky burying an empty netter for insurance. The Huskies managed to make it a one-score game in the final second, making it two straight Badger games featuring a goal in the final second of play.
Winning in-season tournaments is great for morale, and the UConn team that Wisconsin beat on Sunday was (and still is) receiving votes in the USCHO rankings. Speaking of rankings, the Badgers are three spots out from having a number next to their name again, and the next two weeks could go a long way toward doing just that.
The New Year begins with a familiar foe, a rematch against No. 1 Michigan State. The Badgers head to East Lansing for the first leg of the series on Thursday before the teams migrate to Chicago for game two at Wrigley Field, part of The Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series on Saturday. Both games are set to air on Big Ten Network.
Badger fans should plan to get cozy on Saturday, as the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers will take on the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in a must-see women’s matchup before the men’s team takes on the Spartans. Coverage from Wrigleyville kicks off at 4:30 p.m.