The Matchup: No. 12 Wisconsin vs. No. 8 Miami (OH)
When: Friday, Nov. 15, 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 16, 6 p.m.
Where: Oxford, Ohio – Goggin Ice Center (3,642)
Ice Sheet: 200' x 85’
TV: Friday: CBS Sports Network; Saturday: None
Radio: WIBA-AM 1310 (Or other Badgers Radio Network Affiliates)
All-Time Series: Wisconsin leads 3-1-0 (First meeting in Oxford)
Last Meeting: L 2-1 (1/19/13)- The Redhawks salvaged a split of the weekend series at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin claimed game one 1-0, the night before.
About the Lakers:
Record: 6-3-0
Head Coach: Enrico Blasi, 15th season (317-199-54)
Notable: Miami junior forward Andrew Schmidt is a Grafton, Wis., native who transferred in from Nebraska Omaha.
Statistics
Points: Riley Barber and Austin Czarnik- 14 points
Goals: Barber- 8 goals
Assists: Czarnik- 9 assists
Save Pct: Ryan McKay- .928
Goals Against Average: McKay- 2.21 GAA
About Wisconsin
Record: 3-2-1
Head Coach: Mike Eaves, 12th season (234-169-52)
Notable: This is the first time the Badgers have made the trek to Oxford to take on the Redhawks. Wisconsin and Miami (OH) have met just four times, with two of those matchups coming at the Kohl Center last season.
Sophomore Nic Kerdiles has scored points in his last 18 games, a streak which is the third-longest in program history behind Mark Zengerle (20) and Mike Eaves (21).
Statistics
Points: Nic Kerdiles –8 points
Goals: Kerdiles and Michael Mersch – 4 goals
Assists: Joe Faust – 6 assists
Save Pct: Landon Peterson – .835
Goals Against Average: Peterson – 4.29 GAA
Quick analysis: Unlike the Badgers, the Redhawks were in action last weekend, splitting a series with St. Cloud State on the road.
The Badgers’ added rest will come with one of two results. Either they are energized and ready to play against a formidable Miami squad, or they come out flat and spend the bulk of the first game playing catch up.
When UW had a week off earlier this season, it gave up three goals in the opening period of its first game back in action. Though that is an admittedly small sample size, this Redhawks club, top-to-bottom- is much stronger than the Lake Superior State squad which hung up a trio of goals in the opening 20 minutes at the Kohl Center two weeks ago.
Goaltender Joel Rumpel indicated that he is “ready to go.” Depending on how much time the junior netminder sees, he could provide a nice boost on the back end.
This is going to be a hard-fought series between two very skilled teams. The Badgers showed signs of improvement against the Lakers two weeks ago. It won’t take long to find out if that glimmer of hope was real, or just a fluke.
Prediction: Split. Friday: Redhawks 3-1; Saturday: Badgers 2-1
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
