Wisconsin’s season is over after being inches away from advancing in the Big Ten Tournament.
And that’s how the Wisconsin men’s hockey season ends. Not with a bang, but with a resounding whimper. What went wrong in Columbus? Well, let’s get into it.
The Badgers traveled to Columbus this past weekend for Big Ten quarterfinal action against the No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes. The two-out-of-three series marked a rematch of last year’s Big Ten quarterfinal in Madison where Ohio State pulled off the upset. Wisconsin entered this weekend looking to return the favor, and it looked like they would do just that.
The series started Friday night at Nationwide Arena, where Wisconsin (13-21-3 overall) skated to a 4-1 victory. Saturday night is where things started to get murky. The Badgers got out to a 2-0 lead and were on the doorstep of winning their first best-of-three Big Ten quarterfinal in program history, and more importantly, keeping their season alive.
Ohio State (23-12-2 overall) pulled within one late in the second period, but the Badgers continue to nurse their lead throughout the third as time was winding down. The Buckeye goaltender vacated the net trailing 2-1, giving Wisconsin a golden opportunity to ice the game away and earn an extra week of hockey. With just over two minutes remaining, senior Ryland Mosley gained the zone and tossed a pass over to sophomore Quinn Finley with a wide-open net right in front of him. Finley struggled to settle the puck and eventually fired it wide. You could feel the collective groans and eye rolls from Badger fans everywhere in that moment, as we all knew what was coming next.
Just 20 seconds after missing the empty net, Ohio State’s Gunnarwolfe Fontaine ripped one past senior goaltender Tommy Scarfone to tie it up and force overtime. The Badgers went from sitting in the driver’s seat to feeling helpless, as the Buckeyes scored the inevitable overtime winner to force another game.
Sunday’s game three picked up where the Badgers left off in game two, with an unforced error you almost need to see to believe. Ohio State took a first-period lead when Scarfone left the crease to play a puck behind the net, but he failed to play it cleanly and then whiffed on a clearing attempt, leaving a puck in front of the net with no goalie for an easy tap-in.
But the Badgers punched back a few moments later as Finley tied the game six seconds into a Wisconsin power play. That quick flurry provided the bulk of the excitement, as both teams spent most of the game searching for an edge. They were still deadlocked at one apiece going into the third period, when Wisconsin’s self-inflicted wounds reared their ugly head again.
Sophomore Zach Schulz was sent off in the opening minute of the third when he got whistled for hooking. The Badgers successfully killed the penalty and looked to find some rhythm for a game-winning goal. Any rhythm was quickly disrupted when Schulz got sent to the penalty box again just five minutes into the period for kneeing. Again, the Badgers killed the penalty. It was the 15th power play for Ohio State against the Badgers in their seven meetings this season, none of which resulted in a goal. Wisconsin apparently took that as a challenge, as sophomore Sawyer Scholl was whistled for tripping at 9:26, taking their third penalty in the opening 10 minutes of the game’s pivotal final frame.
This time the Buckeyes would not be denied, scoring their first power-play goal against the Badgers in just 11 seconds. It was a backbreaking goal that I think Badger fans were just sort of expecting as soon as Finley missed the open net on Saturday night. This result felt inevitable.
And just for good measure, the Buckeyes turned Wisconsin over on a Badger power play, leading to a breakaway for Hartland native Max Montes who stretched the Ohio State lead to two. The goal was ultimately not ruled a shorthanded goal, as the Badger power play expired as Montes started his break.
The Badgers would get back within one after swapping Scarfone for an extra skater thanks to a Ryland Mosley deflection off the stick of Finley, but it would all be for naught as Ohio State won 3-2, earning the right to play No. 15 Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal.
Winning the Big Ten Tournament was going to be Wisconsin’s only path to the NCAA Tournament, and with Notre Dame upsetting No. 3 Minnesota in their quarterfinal series, the Badgers would have actually had a chance to do it. But those postseason aspirations sailed wide with Finley’s empty-net attempt on Saturday night. By failing to put the Buckeyes away in game two, Wisconsin continued a troubling streak to close the season – they have not won consecutive games dating back to December 28-29, when they won the Holiday Faceoff.
It was a fitting end to the season for Wisconsin, who simply refused to get out of their own way all season. They would look like both the best and worst team in the Big Ten at times, often in the same game. They loved to shoot themselves in the foot with untimely penalties, none more so than the back-to-back-to-back penalties to start the third period in Sunday’s win-or-go-home game three.
The 2024-25 men’s hockey season wound up being a roller coaster of frustration, and that frustration was perfectly embodied in the quarterfinal series against Ohio State. It marks the first time Mike Hastings’ 27-year coaching career that his team finished below .500, solidified by a 2-9 stretch to close the season. It’s only been two years with Hastings at the helm, but they’re not two-for-two running out of gas down the stretch and playing their worst hockey late. That’s a trend that’s not going to fly at a program that covets Frozen Fours, not just postseason appearances.
With the season ending earlier than anticipated, Hastings will be able to get a head start on preparations for next year and start trying to make sense of what went wrong. He’s already added Croatian sharpshooter Bruno Idžan, but something tells me Coach Hastings will leave no stone unturned in the hunt for additional scoring. And after some lackluster goaltending appearances behind Scarfone, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him shopping for goalies as well. Buckle up for a long offseason, and let’s enjoy some Badger women’s hockey in the meantime!