Wisconsin News and Sports
Wisconsin only trailed for 32-seconds on Friday during the Big Ten tournament semi-finals as the Badgers defeated the Nittany Lions 2-1.
Michael Mersch scored both of the badger goals in the second period and another strong performance from the Mike Richter award nominee, Jordan Rumpel, (saved 24 of 25 shots) sealed the win.
Wisconsin improved to 23-10-2 on the season and will face Ohio State for the Big Ten title.
On Wednesday evening the Herb Brooks Foundation and Let’s Play Hockey announced the five finalists for the Mike Richter Award. The inaugural award will go the nation’s most outstanding goaltender.
Of the five finalists Badger men’s hockey junior goaltender Joel Rumpel was nominated by his peers.
During his junior season Rumpel ranked 4th in the nation with a 19-5-1 record and a .931 save percentage. His 2.00 goals-against average was strong enough for 6th in the country. Rumpel earned the Hockey Commissioners’ Association Honorable Mention National Player of the Month in February and twice earned, Big Ten First Star of the Week. Earlier this week Rumpel was named to the 2014 second-team All Big Ten.
Candidates for the award were nominated by all 59 NCAA Division 1 men’s hockey head coaches. The winner will be selected by a committee of coaches, members of the media and scouts.
