After some time off to reflect on an 0-6 start, the Wisconsin Badgers hoped to begin anew in Colorado.
Instead, the Badgers could not get anything going early on and subsequently lost to Colorado College, 5-2.
With the loss, the Badgers are now 0-7 on the year.
Colorado College, who improved to 3-7 with the win, was in control from The beginning to the final stanza, out shooting the Badgers 29-26 on the night.
The Tigers took the lead on a goal from defensemen Aaron Harstad who slid the puck by starting goalie, Landon Peterson.
Peterson ended the night with 24 saves and 5 allowed goals. The numbers look far worse than his 1.02 GAA he had coming into tonight’s matchup, but Peterson was victimized by some bad bounces and shoddy defending more than bad play by himself.
The scoring continued for the Tigers in the second period with Sophomore Luc Gerdes netting a fluke goal. The puck was deflected right over the shoulder of Peterson. Very unlucky for the Badgers, who went down 2-0.
However Wisconsin did show a little bit of fight in the second period. Sophomore Morgan Zulinick brought the badgers back within 1 with a nice slap shot that got by the freshman CC goalie, Chase Perry, who posted 24 saves of his own in the win.
It was Zulinick’s first of the year and it opened the door for the Badgers to climb back into the game.
Colorado College quickly shut the door though, adding two more goals before the period ended by Scott Wamsganz and Jared Hanson respectively.
Colorado College looked comfortably in control with a 4-1 lead headed into the third and final period of play.
The Tigers took no mercy on the Badgers in the third period as Colorado College’s season points leader, Cody Bradley shot himself into the scoring column giving his team a commanding 5-1 lead.
That fifth goal was a wake up call to Wisconsin, albeit too little, too late.
Badgers freshman Jason Ford was not going to go down without a fight, giving Wisconsin their second goal of the night (his first of the year). Ford took a great one-time pass from Sophomore Grant Besse at the 17:28 mark of the third period.
Frustration and disappointment was the order of the night for Badger fans, as they hopelessly watched the rest of the clock run to the end of the game.
It will not get any easier for this Badger team who next faces off against a Denver team that beat Colorado College 8-1.
Something needs to change if the Badgers want to salvage this season and it has to happen fast. This young team needs to figure out how to play together if they want to develop into a team that can compete night in night out with other programs in the NCAA but more importantly, the Big Ten.
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