Men’s Hockey: Shorthanded Badgers capitalize on special teams, split series with Buckeyes

Collin Ginnan
Sat, 05 Dec 2020 02:11:56 +0000
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The Ohio State Buckeyes celebrate after freshman forward Travis Treloar’s (94) goal during the Ohio State-Wisconsin game on Dec. 4. Ohio State lost the game 1-3. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor

A set of Badger brothers led the way Friday, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Wisconsin sophomore and junior forwards Cole and Brock Caufield each scored and accounted for five combined points as No. 14 Wisconsin defeated the No. 13 Ohio State men’s hockey team 3-1, earning a series split Friday at the Schottenstein Center.

Cole Caufield, a Montreal Canadiens draft pick, opened the scoring 5:42 into the game when a wrist shot from the blue line got past Ohio State senior goaltender Tommy Nappier and bounced in off the crossbar. Caufield led the team with four points this series.

“There was definitely a lot of traffic, he didn’t really try to aim I don’t believe — he kind of just threw it at the net and hoped for something good to happen and it got through,” junior forward Quinn Preston said Friday. “Obviously, it’s hard for [Nappier] to track a puck like that, there were a lot of moving bodies in front of him.”

Cole’s brother, Brock Caufield, got involved in the action with a power play goal in the second period with 22 seconds remaining on senior forward Eugene Fadyeyev’s penalty.?

Wisconsin was perfect on special teams this game, scoring on both power play opportunities and killing both of the Buckeyes’ man advantages. Junior forward Jack Gorniak scored Wisconsin’s second power play goal with 13:47 remaining in the third period.

“Most games, you win or lose with your special teams,” Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik said. “Certainly tonight I thought it was a pretty even game, I thought our guys worked hard. But at the end, I think they were two-for-two and we had a five-minute major and a couple others and didn’t get the job done.”

Freshman goaltender Cameron Rowe recorded a victory in his first career start with 40 saves on 41 Ohio State shot attempts.

“They kind of boxed up in the crease a little bit and in front of the net, trying to block all those shots,” Preston said. “Last night we got some good bounces getting those pucks there, and I think that was the difference tonight.”

Freshman forward Travis Treloar scored on a wrist shot that ricocheted off the left post with 11:10 to go in the second period. Treloar’s goal was the third for the rookie in the last four games and he tied the lead for Ohio State with three points in the series.

Badger sophomore forward Ryder Donovan was assessed a major penalty with 3:45 left in the second period for checking from behind, however Ohio State failed to capitalize on the five-minute power play.

Ohio State will next play Dec. 12-13 in South Bend, Indiana when it travels to face Notre Dame. The Badgers have a midweek road series beginning Tuesday against Michigan State.

“Sometimes we forget these kids are going to school, there’s a lot of pressure on these guys so they’ve got to take care of finals and exams,” Rohlik said. “We’ve got to do some recovery and take care of our bodies, then obviously dig in and be prepared for Notre Dame next weekend.”

Ohio State fell to 2-4-0 on the season with seven Big Ten points and the Badgers improved to 5-5-0 with 16 Big Ten points.