MADISON, Wis. – William Whitelaw was the lone goal scorer for the Badgers as the No. 5 Wisconsin men's hockey team fell to Ohio State, 3-1, in Game 1 of the Big Ten tournament on Friday at the Kohl Center.
Seventh-seeded Ohio State (13-18-4) got on the board first, and second-seeded Wisconsin (25-10-2) tied it up shortly after. The game remained tied at one until the third period when the Buckeyes took the lead on the power play. OSU tallied an empty-net goal with less than two minutes remaining in the contest to earn the victory.
The Buckeyes got on the board first 9:08 into the contest on a shot from Brent Johnson.
Two minutes later, freshman forward William Whitelaw tied it up for the Badgers. From the right side boards, sophomore forward Christian Fitzgerald sent a cross-ice pass behind him to freshman defenseman Zach Schulz at the middle of the OSU blue line. Schulz took a shot, which went wide of the net and ricocheted right off the boards onto Whitelaw's stick in front of the left side of the net. Whitelaw then shot the puck home for his 10th goal of the season.
The second period was quiet, with neither team finding the back of the net.
Ohio State broke the silence 2:21 into the third period after Max Montes scored on the power play.
OSU sealed its victory with an empty-net goal from Montes with 1:47 remaining in the contest.
Wisconsin went 0-for-2 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 29-24 advantage in shots on goal.
Straight from the rink
Head Coach Mike Hastings
On the team only scoring once tonight
"We need a shoot-first mentality. We passed up way too many good opportunities to put a book on the night. The object of the game is to get it by the goaltender and the only way to do that is getting near the net, and we weren't determined enough to be successful. You have to pay a price at this time of the year to score goals. A shot-first mentality has to come from the drop of the puck."
On bouncing back tomorrow
"I've discussed the resolve of this group before. They've owned their shortcomings, they've owned their success. Tonight's gonna be no different or tomorrow. Nobody is feeling sorry for the Badgers tonight, if we want to change that tune we got to go out and play a better set of music."
Senior forward David Silye
On learning from the loss
"We'll learn from it. Experience wise, it was kind of new to us. We'll make sure we learn from it and not to make excuses. It's two of three for a reason, and we're hungry here."
Graduate Student defenseman Mike Vorlicky
On tomorrow's game
"There's nothing really to be said. We just got to go out there and do it. I don't think there's much more rah-rah that we need to get going. We just got to get to work, and we'll do that tomorrow."
Notes to know:
- William Whitelaw is the sixth Badger to reach the 10-goal mark this season
- With 8,873 fans at the Kohl Center tonight, Wisconsin now holds the Big Ten tournament quarterfinal attendance record (Previous: 7.408 fans in 2014 at the Xcel Energy Center)
Up Next: The Badgers look to stay alive in the Big Ten tournament by winning Game 2 of their best-of-three quarterfinal series against Ohio State on Saturday. The game starts at 6 p.m. and streams on B1G+. Audio play-by-play airs on the Badgers Radio network, including 1310 WIBA in the Madison area and 97.3 The Game in Milwaukee. It also airs on the Badgers app and The Varsity Network app. Follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
