Wisconsin Radio Network

Wisconsin News and Sports

You are here: Home / Archives for Badgers

Hockey Badgers swept by ASU

By

On Friday, we learned that because of COVID, four forwards would be unavailable to the Wisconsin (4-4-0, 4-3-0-0-1-0 Big Ten) men’s hockey team for it’s weekend series against Arizona State and the Sun Devils (2-3-1) took advantage and beat the shorthanded Badgers 8-5 and 3-1 at LaBahn Arena.

Roman Ahcan, Tarek Baker, Dominic Mersch and Ty Pelton-Byce were held out of the series.  One player reportedly tested positive while the others didn’t play because of contact tracing.

According to Big Ten protocols, a player who tests positive must sit out 21 days.  Those in close contact can’t play or practice for 14 days.

Wisconsin’s lone goal on Sunday was a ricochet off of Sam Stange’s skate in the second period.  It was Stange’s fourth goal and fourth point of the season.

Senior goaltender Robbie Beydoun made 25 saves in goal on the night.

The Badgers head to Columbus for an away series against Ohio State on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 3-4 at 4:30 p.m.  Friday’s game will air on ESPNU.

 

Reuvers leads Badgers in season opener

By

Nate Reuvers had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the 7th ranked Wisconsin Badgers to a season opening 77-67 win over Eastern Illinois in their season opener at the Kohl Center on Wednesday night.

Freshman Ben Carlson came off the bench to score 13 points and D’Mitrik Trice added 11 for the Badgers.

Josiah Wallace led Eastern Illinois with 16 points.

The Badgers shot 52% from the field in the first half to jump out to a big lead and led 43-20 at halftime.  But the Panthers started the second half on a 16-4 run, eventually trimming the margin to 10 points.

The Badgers return to action on Friday night, hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff with a 8 p.m. tip at the Kohl Center.

 

Caufield scores hat trick, leads Badgers to sweep of Penn State

By

Cole Caufield

After going without a goal in the first four games of the season, sophomore forward Cole Caufield lit the lamp four times to help the Wisconsin men’s hockey team sweep Penn State at LaBahn Arena.

Caufield scored a hat trick on Tuesday night to lead the Badgers to a 7-3 win over the Nittany Lions in the series finale.

Caufield was the Big Ten freshman of the year last season, scoring 19 goals to lead the Big Ten.

Tarek Baker’s shorthanded goal late in the second period proved to be the game winner and Robbie Beydoun made 35 saves in goal as both he and the Badgers improved to 4-2.

Wisconsin’s power play improved to 6-20 (30%), scoring a power play goal for the sixth straight game.

The Badgers next, face Arizona State on Saturday (7pm) and Sunday (4pm) at LaBahn Arena.

Caufield named Big Ten’s #1 Star

Badger forward Cole Caufield was named the Big Ten’s first star, leading the nation with six points last week.  He recorded his second career hat trick in Tuesday’s 7-3 win over Penn State.

It’s Caufield’s second career weekly award and first since Oct. 15, 2019.

 

COVID cancels longtime rivalry between Wisconsin and Minnesota

By

As the week began, the possibility was growing that the Badgers wouldn’t be able to play their Saturday home game against the Minnesota Gophers because of rising COVID numbers in the Minnesota football program.  That became reality on Tuesday when the school’s athletic department paused all football team related activities  because of positive coronavirus cases within the program.

The decision was made by Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle, along with university President Joan Gabel and athletics’ medical director Brad Nelson.  The program will now focus on stopping the spread of the virus.

It’s the same decision that the University of Wisconsin was forced into earlier this season when they had to cancel games against Nebraska and Purdue.  It’s the third time in this abbreviated season that the Badgers will lose a game to COVID and now will most likely be ineligible for any shot at the Big Ten title game.

According to Big Ten rules, teams must play at least six games to qualify for the title game.  The Badgers will fall short of that.

The Badgers won last year’s matchup, 38-17 in Minneapolis, securing possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe.  That trophy will now stay in Wisconsin’s trophy case for another year until the teams meet next season.

 

Badgers make their shots count

By

The 14th ranked Wisconsin men’s hockey team was outshot 52-20 but they made those 20 shots count, knocking off the Penn State Nittany Lions 6-3 in their Big Ten series opener at LaBahn Arena on Monday night.

Freshman Sam Stange notched his first two collegiate goals for the Badgers (3-2-0, 3-2-0-0-1-0 Big Ten).  Jack Gorniak, Linus Weissbach and Brock and Cole Caufield also scored goals for the Badgers.

Wisconsin’s power play improved to 5-for-17 (29.4%) for the season after the Badgers scored a power-play goal for the fifth straight game.

Goaltender Robbie Beydoun earned his third win in goal, collecting a career high 49 saves in goal.

Penn State (0-3-0, 0-3-0-0-0-0 Big Ten) remains winless on the season.

The two teams wrap up their two-game series at LaBahn Arena on Tuesday night (5 p.m. – BTN).

 

Mertz, offense struggle in Badger loss at Northwestern (AUDIO)

By

Graham Mertz – Photo Courtesy of David Stluka / UW Athletics

Redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz committed three first half turnovers and four overall as the Wisconsin Badgers (2-1) fell to the Northwestern Wildcats
(5-0) (17-7 in Evanston, Illinois on Saturday.

The Badgers, who played without injured wide receivers Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor, lost for the fifth time in the last six trips to Evanston.

The Badgers managed just one score on 17 offensive possessions and finished three for 16 on third downs, committing five turnovers for the game.  UW has committed 18 turnovers in the last six meetings against the Wildcats.

Graham Mertz, who hadn’t turned the ball over in his first two games, finished 23 of 41 for 230 yards with a touchdown [Read more…]

Hockey Badgers fall to Wolverines in overtime

By

The 14th ranked Wisconsin men’s hockey team was looking to earn a split with 6th ranked Michigan on Friday night, but fell 2-1 in 3-on-3 overtime at LaBahn Arena.

The game was scoreless after one period before Wisconsin (2-2-0, 2-2-0-0-1-0 Big Ten) junior Roman Ahcan notched his first goal of the season just two minutes into the second period on the power play.  Ahcan got a perfect cross ice feed from senior Tarek Baker.

The Wolverines (4-0-0, 2-0-0-1-0-0 Big Ten) tied the game 1-1 with six minutes left in the second period.

The two teams were scoreless in the third before the Wolverines scored the overtime game winner with 26.6 seconds left in OT.

UW goaltender Robbie Beydoun stopped 34 of 36 shots on goal in the loss.

Badger sophomore Cole Caufield is still looking for his first goal of the season after leading the Big Ten in that category last year, but he dished out his fourth assist of the season, one in each of the teams four games.

Wisconsin has a quick turn-a-round on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 23-24 with a pre-Thanksgiving series against No. 10 Penn State.

 

Hockey Badgers fall to 6th ranked Michigan

By

The 14th ranked Wisconsin Badgers (2-1-0, 2-1-0-0 Big Ten) suffered their first loss of the season, 5-2 in their home opener against the 6th ranked Michigan Wolverines (3-0-0, 1-0-0-0 Big Ten) at LaBahn Arena on Thursday night.

Senior Josh Ess opened the scoring for the Badgers, scoring his first goal of the season just 1:10 into the first.

The Wolverines scored three times in the second period to tie and take the lead.

The Badgers drew to within a goal early in the third on a Linus Weissbach power play tally, but the Wolverines quickly responded with a goal of their own and then added an empty netter late for the final 5-2 margin.

Senior Robbie Beydoun had 29 saves in goal for the Badgers.

The two teams return to action on Friday night with a 6 p.m. faceoff time at LaBahn Arena.

Badger women’s hockey tops WCHA Preseason Coaches Poll

By

Defending regular season champion Wisconsin is the pick among league head coaches to win the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Women’s League 2020-21 regular season title.

The Badgers totaled 34 points and four first place votes in preseason polling among the WCHA’s seven bench bosses.  Defending WCHA regular season champion Minnesota received three first place votes and tallied 31 points in the poll.

Ohio State finished third with 28 points to edge out fourth-place Minnesota Duluth (21 points).  Bemidji State (14), Minnesota State (13) and St. Cloud State (6) rounded out this year’s poll.

Daryl Watts, Wisconsin’s senior forward was named WCHA Preseason Player of the Year, edging out Ohio State senior forward Emma Maltais, Minnesota senior forward Grace Zumwinkle and Minnesota Duluth junior forward Gabbie Hughes.

The WCHA opens its 22nd season the weekend of Nov. 20-22 as Minnesota State hosts Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota hosts Ohio State.

Wisconsin opens its season the following weekend, Nov. 27-28 at Ohio State.

Badger football team moves up in both Top-25 Polls

By

The Wisconsin Badgers, coming off a 49-11 win over the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor on Saturday night, moved up in both Top 25 Polls on Sunday.

The Badgers climbed two spots to number-12 in the Amway Coaches Poll.  They’re third among four Big Ten Conference teams in this weeks poll.

Ohio State (3-0) is at number-3.  Indiana (4-0) is at number-10.  Northwestern (4-0) moved up three spots to number-20.

The Wildcats have made the turnaround from a 1-8 record a year ago and will host the Badgers on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Evanston.

The Badgers also moved up three spots to number-10 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.