After a one-week hiatus, Kedrick Stumbris and Anthony Winker return to discuss the week that was in Wisconsin Badgers hockey and hoops.

First, the duo discusses (part of) the reason for the hiatus: the Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions. Kedrick recounts his experience in St. Petersburg, Florida, the crowd-split inside Tropicana Field, and the all-time great home-run call by Joe Davis that will ultimately be lost to history.

Then, Anthony and Kedrick discuss the nation’s new top-ranked team in men’s college hockey. After a sweep of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Wisconsin is atop the polls for just the second time since winning its most-recent national title in 2006. After recapping an impressive series, they look ahead to a pair of games at the University of Minnesota, and contemplate how meaningful a No. 1 ranking is in early November.

Later, a recap of Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball’s season-opening victory over the Denver Pioneers. It was not flawless, but UW got the job done against a lesser opponent on a night Wisconsin found itself shorthanded due to injuries and foul trouble. Kedrick and Anthony debate whether the imperfect performance was simply a sign of growing pains or of trouble to come later in the season.

Finally, Nela Lopušanová highlighted a Wisconsin women’s hockey sweep over the St. Cloud State Huskies by tying the Badgers’ single-game goal-scoring record. The Slovak standout became the second rookie in the history of NCAA Division I women’s college hockey to hit the back of the net five times in a single contest. Any early-season concerns about where UW would find its scoring seem to have been assuaged by this group of young Badgers.

Anthony and Kedrick provide a brief update on the current, former, and future Wisconsin players competing in the upcoming IIHF Women’s World Championships.

As always, the show concludes with the Badger Breakaway three stars of the week segment. Stick around until the very end to learn who takes home this week’s coveted honors.

Thank you for visiting BadgerBreakaway.com – With your support, we are quickly becoming a leading independent source for news, analysis, and intel on the Wisconsin Badgers hockey and basketball teams.

After having its frontcourt depth tested in the season opener, Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball may still be facing a personnel shortage for a bit longer as one of its expected contributors deals with an injury suffered late in the preseason. The absence was part of the reason head coach Greg Gard’s rotation got “out of whack” against the Denver Pioneers.

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Ahead of Wisconsin’s final matchup of its exhibition slate against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Badgers (1-0-0, 0-0-0 Big Ten) announced Will Garlock would not play in the contest. After suffering an injury in practice, UW said he is “considered day-to-day.”

Garlock did not participate in pre-game warmups before Monday night’s regular-season debut of the 129th season of Wisconsin men’s basketball. Before tip off, UW again ruled him out, repeating that he “is considered day-to-day.”

Following Wisconsin’s 20th-consecutive non-conference home victory, a mark tied or the longest-active streak in the Big Ten, Gard provided a brief update on the sophomore.

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The 129th season of Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball got off to an up-and-down start inside the Kohl Center on Monday night. Streaky shooting, inconsistent defense, and a poor performance at the free throw line allowed the Denver Pioneers to stay within striking distance until the very end.

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“First half, I thought we did some good things,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said in his postgame press conference. “Second half, I thought we were having some out of body experiences.

“And we didn’t play to our standard. Regardless of score, regardless of opponent, we talk about how we want to play the game, and we didn’t. And they—I didn’t have to say—I mean, I said it in the locker room, but they know it.”

Although the Badgers (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) finished the night with a 75-68 victory over the Pioneers for Gard’s 11th-consecutive home-opener victory in as many seasons at the helm in Madison, both he and his team walked away unsatisfied on Monday evening with an understanding that there is time and room to grow in a long college basketball season.

Wisconsin basketball ends rocky first-half on high note

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Following-up on a 7-1 blowout victory on Friday, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team delivered again on Saturday. Power-play execution, team communication, and storybook goal-scorers, lifted Wisconsin to a 9-1 victory and a sweep over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to open Big Ten play.

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No. 2 Wisconsin (6-0-0, 2-0-0 Big Ten) opened Friday night’s series opener with what head coach Mike Hastings called “one of our best 20 minutes that we’ve had in a young season,” outshooting Notre Dame 25-7. Saturday, however, the Badgers were locked with the Fighting Irish in a one-goal game midway through the second period, but knew they could be performing at a higher level.

“What I liked is the guys came back to the bench, and they’re the ones that kind of figured it out,” Hastings said in a post-game interview. “That wasn’t coaching; that was those guys communicating and just talking about a couple of looks that they were looking to get.”

A second-period natural hat-trick, a first-as-a-Badger for a heralded transfer, and six power-play goals later, UW capitalized on those looks. It was the first time Wisconsin scored six goals on the advantage in one game since doing so in 1979, also against Notre Dame.

“It’s hard to sweep in the Big Ten,” said Hastings. “And so for us to be able to get off to the start that we did, that wasn’t perfect, but it was decent, and find a way to get a lead and then extend it was really good weekend for us.”

Bruno Idžan has storybook night

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With the caveat that it is not quite November, it appears the No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey program is following-up its breakout national runner-up campaign with another impressive season. A lopsided victory on Friday night gave UW its best start in over 20 years. Although an injury to its co-captain may have marred the evening.

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“Tonight was a growing moment. Tomorrow is going to be a reset. They’re going to be better. We’re going to have to be better,” Wisconsin head coach Mike Hastings’ said of his team’s early offensive success en route to a 7-1 victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Twelve Badgers (5-0-0, 1-0-0 Big Ten) found their way on the scoresheet in the blowout victory as Wisconsin improved to 5-0-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

“It was a good start tonight, and to see different guys on the score sheet is really important for our growth,” Hastings added. “And I was happy with some of the guys that got rewarded because there’s been some guys that have been grinding pretty hard without being rewarded for their efforts.”

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Despite his wealth of resources, Greg Gard finds himself in the same dilemma as most folks across the state of Wisconsin this week. As Game 1 nears, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball head coach has struggled to weigh the significant cost of World Series tickets over the opportunity to witness the Milwaukee Brewers play in the Fall Classic for the first time since his childhood.

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Gard was torn on Wednesday when asked about his plans to watch Friday night’s series-opener against the Tampa Bay Rays saying he “will be watching it, but not in person,” before adding that he is “kicking himself” over the decision of whether or not to attend.

“You know, I was 11-years-old the last time they went in ‘82,” the Cobb, Wisconsin native said. “I probably should just break down, just go spend a lot of money and buy a ticket.”

Wisconsin basketball coach Greg Gard discusses his attempts to get World Series tickets

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Although none of the Wisconsin Badgers hockey or basketball teams have games that count this weekend, news from national teams, court rulings, and exhibition contests generated plenty of headlines. Listen to this week’s Badger Breakaway podcast breaking down the latest in UW hockey and hoops.

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Wisconsin women’s hockey center Rosalie Tremblay celebrated a banner week by returning from Hockey Canada training camp, joined an exclusive list of Badgers rookies, and became one of the youngest players to ever make the Canadian national team.

Following the announcement, Kedrick and Anthony make a bold prediction that would put the Quebec native among UW greats.

In Madison, the Badgers men’s basketball team is putting the final touches on its preseason training. After guard Braeden Carrington’s impressive performance in last week’s exhibition against the Green Bay Phoenix, the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara made a preliminary ruling in his ongoing lawsuit against the NCAA.

The Wisconsin men’s hockey team heads to Kalamazoo this weekend for an exhibition game against the Western Michigan Broncos. In a rematch of last season’s Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off title game, UW and WMU meet again as potential national title contenders. Kedrick and Anthony break down the players of note on the Broncos’ dynamic offense and stalwart defense.

Finally, the show concludes with a discussion on who head coach Mike Hastings will turn to at goaltender in this one-off contest and the three stars of the week.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 Show intro

• 1:10 Wisconsin women’s hockey vs Minnesota State recap and Rosalie Tremblay’s very good week

• 20:30 How to fix IIHF Women’s World Championships scheduling and the impact on the Badgers

• 38:00 Insights from Wisconsin men’s basketball team’s performance at Green Bay and Braeden Carrington eligibility lawsuit

• 50:00 Previewing Wisconsin men’s hockey at Western Michigan

• 57:30 Three stars of the week and wrap-up

For more:

• Watch: Mark Johnson, Cassie Hall, Ava Murphy react to win over Minnesota State

• Greg Gard’s reaction to Braeden Carrington eligibility ruling

• Austin Rapp, Hayden Jones address media after practice

Thank you for visiting BadgerBreakaway.com – With your support, we are quickly becoming a leading independent source for news, analysis, and intel on the Wisconsin Badgers hockey and basketball teams.

With only one exhibition remaining before the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team begins playing games that truly count in the 2026-27 college basketball season, players are beginning to reflect on the strides they have made in the offseason and in exhibition matchups ahead of UW’s season opener against the Denver Pioneers on Monday, November 2nd inside the Kohl Center.

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After missing his team’s preseason-opener against the Parkside Rangers, Badgers forward Austin Rapp had his return to action against the Green Bay Phoenix. Following an offseason defined by surgery and rehab, he was happy “to finally just be out there with the guys.”

The Australian big man managed only one point and three rebounds against the Horizon League foe, missing all four of his shots from the field, but he is confident in his approach ahead of the regular season.

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If the status quo holds, Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball will have one more member of its 2025-26 squad returning to its lineup for the upcoming season. A ruling in the Superior Court of California, Santa Clara County affecting dozens of athletes from the high school graduating class of 2022 further paved the way for Braeden Carrington’s return for a second season in Madison.

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Initially a Minnesota Golden Gophers commit, Carrington has already competed for four seasons in NCAA Division I. After two seasons in the Twin Cities, he spent a year each as a member of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and Wisconsin Badgers. This summer, he joined dozens of athletes as a plaintiff in Glancey v. NCAA arguing that the application of the NCAA’s new “age-based eligibility rules” preventing him and other members of the 2022 class from competing in the 2026-27 college basketball season is a violation of California state law.

On Tuesday, Judge Beth McGowen ruled on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the NCAA from declaring any of the athletes party to the case ineligible to compete in the upcoming season.

The impact: Wisconsin basketball and Braeden Carrington eligibility case

According to court documents, the court granted the preliminary injunction on Tuesday, making Carrington eligible, pending possible further litigation.

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Much to Head Coach Mark Johnson’s chagrin, his Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team entered the third period tied with the Minnesota State Mavericks on Friday night. Just like its previous two contests, Johnson’s squad was in a “tight” one late. Unlike the previous two, the Badgers wound up on top.

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The winningest coach in the history of women’s college hockey lamented his team’s start and wished they had generated more scoring chances. Still, he recognized that his roster with several newcomers and three players returning just the day prior from Hockey Canada training camp has time to grow.

“You know those little things that that maybe early in the season you want to have in place, you know, just aren’t there,” said Johnson in a post-game interview. “So you just have to deal with it.”

Eventually, Wisconsin (5-2-0, 1-2-0 WCHA) did enough things right to generate a four-goal third period and pull away with a series-opening 5-1 victory.

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This is a lighter read than the typical post. Maybe you'll read this with your morning coffee. Maybe it's the perfect fit for that window between the NFL late afternoon kick and when Carrie Underwood does her thing on NBC. Maybe you won't read it at all, what do I care?

If you're the type of person who wants just a little bit more analysis, musings, and takes on the Wisconsin Badgers, you should care. If you're the type of person who thinks variety is the spice of life, yeah, this weekly addition to your reading is for you.

Time to let it rip.

Wisconsin women's hockey: What are we doing here?

The Badgers were shorthanded this weekend due, in large part, to a questionable decision by Hockey Canada to host its pre-World Championship training camp this weekend. Add in Kelly Gorbatenko injury to boot, and things got messy.

Admittedly, I expected Wisconsin to get boat-raced this weekend against the only other program in the sport that can consider itself UW’s peer. That decidedly didn't happen!

At least, on the scoreboard.

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The Minnesota State Mavericks were unable to sour Wisconsin men’s hockey head coach Mike Hastings’ return to Mankato. A shutout victory on Friday night eventually turned into another lopsided game on Saturday as the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers (4-0-0, 0-0-0 Big Ten) remained unbeaten on the young season.

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UW assistant coach Andy Brandt said in a post-game interview after the series finale that his team gave a “60-minute effort” on Friday and was hoping to build off that. Despite a slower start on Saturday, he thought Wisconsin “did a great job just kind of re-racking and sticking with it.”

“For our group, just their ability to not get rattled at a start we probably want back and stick with it, I think speaks volumes towards our leadership in that locker room,” Brandt added.

Third star: Zach Wooten

In his second weekend with the Badgers, freshman Zach Wooten earned the promotion to the top line. Playing alongside standout juniors Gavin Morrissey and JJ Wiebusch, Wooten made the most of his opportunity and tallied his first collegiate points.

Friday, the Wooten recorded his first-career assist on a power-play goal by defenseman Logan Hensler. Wooten added his first-career goal and multi-point game on Saturday.

On what Brandt called “a great, great line rush,” the Winnipeg Jets prospect perfectly located a wrist shot short-side to the top corner, giving the Badgers a 2-1 lead just before the 2nd period expired.

“What a finish by Wootz to be able to put that underneath the bar,” Brandt remarked. “That was a pretty goal.”

In the third, Wooten directed a pass in a crowded area on the power play to Vasily Zelenov to double that lead.

Zelenov celebrated that goal by emphatically pointing to Wooten, who proved himself by performing on the top forward group and top power play unit. The Apple Valley, Minnesota native has a knack for knowing just how much time and space he has to operate.

Second star: Wisconsin Badgers hockey goaltending

A battle for the role of UW’s starting goaltending position that Hastings had declared to be “hot and heavy” remained intense over the weekend as netminders Alexis Cournoyer and Daniel Hauser combined to make 30 saves on 31 shots by the Mavericks.

Cournoyer logged his first shutout as a Badger in Friday’s 4-0 victory. Hauser allowed the lone goal of the weekend in Saturday’s 4-1 contest when a shot from MSU defenseman Sam Court ricocheted off the back wall, to Hauser’s right skate, and into the back of the net.

Regardless of the awkward bounce, Hauser played a critical role in helping Wisconsin gain and maintain a first-period lead. The Mavericks outshot the Badgers 10-6 in the opening frame on Saturday, the only period in which Minnesota State had such an edge in the series. Brandt agreed with the notion that the sophomore was the MVP of the first period and acknowledged that Wisconsin “probably didn’t have our best 20 to start the game.”

“[Hauser] made some huge saves,” Brandt commented. “Our transition game just wasn’t there in that first period and Daniel gave us the opportunity to get going. And when you have goaltending like that, it gives your club confidence to get going after a slow start.”

UW is surely entering games confident regardless of who is starting in net.

First star: Vasily Zelenov

An injury in the championship game of the 2025 Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off put a pause Zelenov’s freshman season just as he was hitting his stride. At the time of the injury that led to the Buffalo Sabres prospect being sidelined for over a month, he had tallied six points in his last five games. Down the stretch of the second half, he found his stride again finishing with 10 points in 13 games, including a goal in the national title game.

Now a sophomore, Zelenov has picked up right where he left off.

The Russian logged a weekend-highs with three assists and four points. His six helpers and seven total points also lead the Badgers so far this season.

Zelenov not only dished out on assist through traffic on the rush for Wooten’s first collegiate goal, he did the same for Chase Jette’s first NCAA goal.

It was a highlight-reel assist as the 6-foot center put the puck between the skates of Minnesota State defenseman Easton Hewson to put the Badgers up 1-0 on Saturday.

The impressive fashion in which Zelenov and Grady Deering (who added his second goal of the season on Friday night) have played early this season should put Wisconsin hockey fans at a bit of ease for how the duo of sophomore centers will fare this season for UW’s middle six.

Thank you for visiting BadgerBreakaway.com – With your support, we are quickly becoming a leading independent source for news, analysis, and intel on the Wisconsin Badgers hockey and basketball teams.

After a 2-1 loss in Friday’s series opener, things turned from bad to worse for Wisconsin women’s hockey Saturday afternoon in Columbus. What, for 40 minutes, appeared to be a back-and-forth tilt between the two top-ranked teams in the country turned lopsided in the final 20 minutes as the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers (4-2-0, 0-2-0 WCHA) fell 5-3 to the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes.

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Although UW faltered down the stretch in Friday’s series opener, it took an immediate lead just 34 seconds into the series finale, courtesy of the nation’s leading goal-scorer Cassie Hall.

Three first-period goals by Ohio State put the Buckeyes on top. The Badgers managed to battle back to a 3-3 tie, even outshooting OSU 12-5 in the second period (the only period all weekend UW came out ahead in shots-on-goal).

But, things turned sour in the third, putting Wisconsin in an unfamiliar 0-2 hole in conference play.

Wisconsin women’s hockey outplayed in 3rd

Despite Wisconsin coming hot out the gates and battling back in the second period, Ohio State, much like it did on Friday, controlled possession and pace of play throughout the third period. The Buckeyes also took advantage of uncharacteristic mistakes by the Badgers.

OSU retook the lead just ten seconds into the final frame. An apparent miscommunication by UW defenders Laney Potter and Emma Cerruti left both Buckeyes forwards Joy Dunne collecting a loose puck behind the net and Hilda Svensson in front of the net all alone.

With goaltender Ava McNaughton on an island against two Olympians, Ohio State retook the lead and did not give it back.

Mistakes continued to plague the Badgers. Nearly midway through the period, Wisconsin lined up for a faceoff with only four players, prompting a timeout called by Mark Johnson. The miscue occurred after an icing call and a long shift, so perhaps the timeout was planned, but the visual was odd.

That moment was not, however, the last time Wisconsin would be caught with too few skaters on the ice. Amidst a comeback bid with McNaughton pulled in favor of the extra attacker, UW wound up with only five skaters for roughly ten seconds after Nela Lopušanová went off the ice and nobody else came off the bench.

With its short bench, perhaps the Badgers were facing some mental fatigue along with physical fatigue as time wound down on their sixth period of the weekend against another one of college hockey’s premier programs. Wisconsin carried a lead into the third period on Friday and was tied at the end of two period on Saturday, but Ohio State was simply the better team through 60 minutes in both games.

OSU outshot UW by a combined total of 36-9 across third periods this weekend.

Rare winless WCHA start

The pair of losses put Wisconsin in unfamiliar territory. The most-remarkable graduating class in program history led the Badgers to just five combined losses over the last two seasons combined. Much like UW was shorthanded this weekend due to national team commitments, two of those five losses came during the 2026 Winter Olympics when Wisconsin was without a handful of its best players.

The Badgers have not taken consecutive losses since December 2023, when UW lost to the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs to close one weekend and dropped the following weekend’s series opener to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The last time any opponent had swept UW before this weekend was just before that Duluth series in November 2023. Ohio State earned a two-game sweep of Wisconsin in Columbus. That season eventually concluded with the Buckeyes winning the national title with a 1-0 win over the Badgers.

This is only the third time in program history that Wisconsin women’s hockey is 0-2 in WCHA play, and only the second time since UW’s inaugural 1999-00 season. Minnesota handed Wisconsin a pair of losses to begin the Badgers’ conference slate in 2003-04.

Krissy Wendell was a sophomore on that Gophers team. Her daughter is committed to joining the Wisconsin Badgers next fall.

Thank you for visiting BadgerBreakaway.com – With your support, we are quickly becoming a leading independent source for news, analysis, and intel on the Wisconsin Badgers hockey and basketball teams.

With eight newcomers on its roster, the new-look Wisconsin basketball made its preseason debut on Saturday. A veteran-laden roster dispatched of the Division II Parkside Rangers with relative ease as the Wisconsin Badgers earned a 94-71 victory, leaving plenty to like and plenty to work on.

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“There were a lot of things we have to clean up,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said in a post-game interview. “I thought we got we gave up straight line drives. We gambled on things at times. We got out of position. There were times in the first half I thought when it was in front of me that you know we stopped the ball well. We were physical at the rim, but there’s you know there’s a lot we have to get better at on both ends of the floor.”

Greg Gard deploys veteran starting lineup

At Big Ten Media Days this week, Gard professed his program’s mantra to “get old, stay old.” Even in the age of the transfer portal where retaining developing talent can be as difficult as ever, the Badgers are leaning into maturity wherever they can find it.

In his starting lineup on Saturday, Gard deployed 23-year-old point guard Owen Foxwell, senior Jack Janicki, Miami Redhawks transfer Eian Elmer, All-Big Ten preseason honoree Nolan Winter, and former Hofstra Pride forward Victory Onuetu: a group entirely comprised of seniors and older.

Who remains in that starting five remains in question. Badgers forward Austin Rapp is recovering from offseason surgery that kept him sidelined most of the summer.

“I’m experimenting,” Gard said of his starting group. “I may change the lineup in the next game.”

Wisconsin basketball still seeking connectivity

Despite the experience throughout the lineup, the Badgers struggled at times to take care of the basketball, committing 15 turnovers. UW turned the ball over 15 or more times in just three games all of last season.

“First time seeing an opposition jersey, so there’s a lot of things that need to be cleaned up,” Foxwell said. “Like, we were never going to come into this being perfect or a finished product.”

The five-year Australian NBL veteran coughed the ball up a team-high four times, but also led the way among all players with six assists in his first outing as the Wisconsin Badgers point guard. In true veteran fashion, Foxwell committed to improvement declaring that he “had turnovers that you probably won’t see again for the rest of the year.”

Eight of UW’s turnovers were committed by forwards as the Badger big men handled the ball in offensive sets with regularity on dribble-drives, high-low actions, and ball screens, adding an apparent new wrinkle to the Wisconsin offense.

Still, Gard acknowledged that his frontcourt has “got to be better” with the ball in their hands.

Nolan Winter looks the part

While facing a non-Division I opponent, Wisconsin basketball fans would certainly hope that a preseason all-conference honoree could impose his well throughout the afternoon. Particularly in the frontcourt, against a roster lacking anyone taller than 6-foot-9, a player of Winter’s caliber should be a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the floor.

Against Parkside, Winter was just that, helping Wisconsin dominate inside as the Badgers doubled-up the Rangers in paint points 56-28.

The Lakeville North product immediately went to work on Saturday. Putting Gard’s pre-season proclamation that “big is back” in college basketball into practice, UW’s first offensive possession of its exhibition slate was a post touch to Winter, resulting in a layup assisted by Janicki just ten seconds after the opening tip.

The rest of the afternoon was much of the same for 7-footer, who poured in 15 points in 22 minutes with effective work in the post, cutting down open lanes in the paint, and executing in the pick-and-roll. Winter added nine rebounds, a pair of assists, a block, and a steal for good measure.

Regardless of the level of competition, Winter looked like a player ready to take on the challenge of shouldering a heavy load for a potential NCAA Tournament team.

Up next for Wisconsin basketball

Wisconsin resumes exhibition play this Thursday, October 15th with its second of three preseason contests. The Badgers travel north to face the Green Bay Phoenix inside the Resch Center. Tip is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. central.

Thank you for visiting BadgerBreakaway.com – With your support, we are quickly becoming a leading independent source for news, analysis, and intel on the Wisconsin Badgers hockey and basketball teams.

Despite carrying a lead into the third period, Wisconsin women’s hockey fell at the hands of the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday night. A tremendous performance in net was not enough for the No. 1 Wisconsin Badgers (4-1-0, 0-1-0 WCHA) as they battled to overcome injuries, absences, and penalties.

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Game 1 of this two-game series as Wisconsin opened WCHA play in Columbus, Ohio showcased an Ohio State program that remains as physically imposing as any in the sport. The Buckeyes’ approach appeared to get under the skin of the rival Badgers early, often, and throughout.

As UW resets for Game 2, its top contributors are likely trying to maximize their rest and recovery ahead of an early 2:00 p.m. CT start on Saturday after playing big minutes in the series opener.

Kelly Gorbatenko dresses, but does not play

Badgers forward Kelly Gorbatenko exited Wisconsin’s series finale against the Boston University Terriers last week with an apparent left arm/wrist injury after blocking a shot and did not return to play. The captain did return to the bench to provide much-lauded moral support to her teammates and she seemed to play that same role in Columbus on Friday night.

With the Badgers already missing defenders Ava Murphy and Emma Venusio and forward Rosalie Tremblay at Hockey Canada training camp, Gorbatenko slid down the line chart. Usually lining up at left wing on Wisconsin’s top group, the Chicago Mission product was penciled in, at least theoretically, as UW’s fourth-line center.

In reality, Badgers head coach Mark Johnson rolled through his top three lines of forwards and his top two defensive pairings. Union College transfer Lauren Johnson was an occasional presence on the blue line, but the fourth forward line and defender Shayla Beaudette remained on the bench for all sixty minutes of play.

Sophomore Mackenzie Jones made her season debut after missing Wisconsin’s first four games.

Ava McNaughton keeps Wisconsin women’s hockey afloat

As a consequence of Wisconsin’s missing personnel, the Badgers often struggled to break out of their defensive zone, turn defense into offense in transition, and generate quality scoring opportunities. When the third period started, OSU seemed to have a significant endurance advantage and dominated possession.

Before the final minute, Wisconsin attempted just two shots in the third period. Ohio State, meanwhile, managed 30 shots, landing 19 of them on goal.

While Badgers shifts often consisted of long attempts to successfully break out of the defensive zone, getting a line change, and repeating, goaltender Ava McNaughton made save after save in a game Wisconsin needed the Olympian to play spectacularly to give her team a chance. Both goaltenders were perfect at 5-on-5.

McNaughton made 38 saves on the evening, tying a career-high set in the 2026 WCHA Final Faceoff championship game against Ohio State. It was the fourth time in the senior’s career that she made 35 or more saves in a contest. All four of those were against the Buckeyes.

Third-period penalties prove costly

Officials blew their whistles early and often in this tense rivalry matchup. Nela Lopušanová and Jenna Raunio’s cross-checking infractions 79 seconds in were the first of 17 total penalties on the night. After Cassie Hall scored a power-play goal in the second period to put Wisconsin up 1-0, a trio of third-period penalties against the Badgers paved the way for an Ohio State victory.

As the OSU offensive pressure began to get the better of UW, Hannah Halverson put the Badgers on the penalty kill as she went to the box for slashing with 14:09 remaining. Buckeyes defender Swedish Olympian Mira Jungåker converted on the advantage with a slapshot from the point as Team USA’s Joy Dunne provided a screen, tying the game at 1-1.

Later, it was sophomore center Adéla Šapovalivová with a pair of costly penalties that helped put Ohio State on top and stymie the Wisconsin comeback bid. With just under five minutes to play, Šapovalivová put the Buckeyes back on the power play when officials assessed a roughing minor for her post-whistle shove of OSU forward Kaia Malachino in front of the Badger net.

Then, Jungåker found her Team Sweden teammate, Hilda Svensson, with loads of time and space on the faceoff dot, who beat McNaughton glove side with a back-breaking wrist shot to give Ohio State its first lead of the night.

Despite the penalties and struggle to overcome the Buckeyes pressure, Wisconsin had a late chance at a comeback. A cross-checking penalty against Sydney Sawyer gave the Badgers a power-play, an offensive zone faceoff, and (after pulling McNaughton in favor of the extra attacker) a 6-on-4 advantage with 1:03 remaining.

That two-skater advantage was ultimately cut short. OSU forward Kassidy Carmichael cleared the puck with 18 seconds remaining, officials called Šapovalivová for a high-sticking penalty well behind the play, and the ensuing faceoff in front of the UW net eliminated any chance of a last-second rush going the other way that could have tied the game.

Just as it did a season ago, Ohio State leads the country with its players serving over 11 penalty minutes per game. On Friday night, the Buckeyes successfully dragged the Badgers, typically one of the least penalized teams in the country, into the muck.

Thank you for visiting BadgerBreakaway.com – With your support, we are quickly becoming a leading independent source for news, analysis, and intel on the Wisconsin Badgers hockey and basketball teams.

After closing out the first portion of its non-conference schedule undefeated, the top-ranked Wisconsin women’s hockey team is headed on the road to open conference play to defend its position atop the polls. The Ohio State Buckeyes opened up the season at No. 2 in the national rankings, but earned the nod as the preseason favorite to win the conference in the WCHA coaches poll to win the conference.

Neither powerhouse will be at full-strength this weekend, but the programs that have combined to take the last seven national titles are back for another bout.

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The Wisconsin Badgers (2-0-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) travel to Columbus this weekend as Ohio State prepares for its home opener. UW has bested OSU in back-to-back national title games, but the perennial title contenders have evenly split their last four meetings: both teams have gone 2-2 in those contests, both scoring a combined nine goals.

What typically is assured to be a dramatic, high-level series however, has fallen under a bit of a cloud as national team absences and injuries will challenge both head coaches to get the best out of their available talent.

Who to watch: Cassie Hall in transition

With four games as a senior under her belt, Cassie Hall is tied for the national lead in goals (5) and points (8). The center is consistently creating offensive opportunities with her speed, tallying five of her eight points in transition, and her coaches are taking notice.

“She’s skating well. I mean, she’s skating really well,” UW head coach Mark Johnson said following his team’s 4-1 victory over the Boston University Terriers. “And you know, she scored a couple nice goals last weekend, but, you know, she’s doing some things that, you know, we’ve asked her to do and she’s executing on them. Where she’s cutting into the, you know, the offensive zone around a defenseman and taking it into the blue paint and creating opportunities with that.”

The South Lyon, Michigan has been creating goals in exactly the fashion Johnson described with regularity. Whether it is a power-play assist by taking the puck coast to coast or getting the puck midway through the neutral zone and just tucking it past a goaltender (twice!), Hall is seemingly executing exactly in ways the Wisconsin Badgers staff believes she can.

Equally impressive to Hall’s speed, is her awareness when the skating skill is not enough to get behind a defense. First, see this goal scored in transition thanks to an excellently-placed shot to the far side of the net.

And later on opening night, Hall tallied an assist by completely redirecting a play at the bottom of the faceoff circle and feeding Kelly Gorbatenko in front of the net.

Whether or not Hall can replicate this early-season success against a team in Ohio State that is more equipped to match Wisconsin’s speed is yet to be determined. If UW does manage to return to Madison with WCHA points in its pocket, Hall will have to play an active role in creating and facilitating offensive opportunities, especially with Kelly Gorbatenko’s uncertain injury status.

What to watch: Wisconsin hockey vs. Ohio State forecheck

Under head coach Nadine Muzerall, the Ohio State women’s hockey team has developed a reputation for its unrelenting forecheck. Throughout the past handful of years as UW and OSU have battled for supremacy, the Buckeyes have often caused the Badger breakout fits.

With that challenge on the horizon, Wisconsin heads to Columbus missing a few pieces of its new-look blue line.

Life without former Badgers defenders Caroline Harvey and Vivianne Jungels in the WCHA begins in earnest this weekend, meanwhile, Hockey Canada is leaving the Badgers down two of its top four defenders still on the roster.

Ava Murphy and Emma Venusio both received invitations to Canada’s development camp ahead of next month’s IIHF Women’s World Championship. Mackenzie Jones has yet to make her sophomore debut and was wearing a boot on her right foot while sitting in the stands during Wisconsin’s win inside LaBahn Arena on Friday.

If Jones does not play this weekend, Laney Potter will be the lone defender with more than four games of experience in a Badgers jersey in the lineup as Wisconsin faces perhaps the most uniquely challenging opponent in the sport.

UW rookie forward Rosalie Tremblay, and OSU forwards Jocelyn Amos and Hayley McDonald will also be out of the lineup to attend Canada’s development camp. Amos was the Buckeyes’ second-leading scorer a season ago with 27 goals and 25 assists.

Why to watch: It’s still No. 1 vs No. 2!

Just as it was last time, and the 16 times before that, when Wisconsin and Ohio State share the ice this weekend, they will do so as the top-ranked teams in the country. Regardless of who is in and who is out, if the game is played indoors or outdoors, the game counts just the same in the conference standings and NPI.

There will still be tremendous players on both sides. Badgers goaltender Ava McNaughton and Buckeyes single-season scoring record holder Joy Dunne won Olympic gold earlier this year for Team USA and will likely join forces again for the US at the World Championships. Ohio State has started all three of its goaltenders on its roster this season as Muzerall tries to determine what life after Hailey MacLeod looks like while Wisconsin rookie Nela Lopušanová is living up to sky-high expectations.

When these teams meet next, in the final weekend of the regular season. The line charts might be unrecognizable, but the conference points earned this weekend in October will almost certainly play a significant role in the race for the Julianne Bye Cup in February.

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During the summer, injuries and lawsuits made it difficult to see what the 2026-27 Wisconsin men’s basketball team could look like this winter. As that summer has turned to fall, injuries have turned to successful rehab and those lawsuits, well, those are still clear as mud.

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In a preseason press conference on Tuesday, Wisconsin Badgers head coach Greg Gard provided updates on the injury and eligibility status on four players. Seemingly, at least three of those players will be available when UW opens its season on Monday, November 2nd against the Denver Pioneers.

Gard is preparing as if that fourth player will be available. As of this publication, he would be, but a preliminary injunction hearing could change that.

Braeden Carrington mounts eligibility bid

After the most-productive offensive season of his college basketball career, Braeden Carrington is attempting to play a fifth season of college basketball. Following two seasons with his hometown Minnesota Golden Gophers, a campaign with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, and a lone season in Madison, Carrington had seemingly exhausted his eligibility.

After the NCAA announced its new age-based eligibility rules, Carrington joined dozens of athletes who had seemingly exhausted their eligibility in Glancey v. NCAA: a civil case tried in California state court that would, if successful, grant relief in the form of a year of eligibility for the 2026-27 season to a slew of athletes who graduated high school in the class of 2022.

The court granted the athletes a temporary injunction in August. That ruling cleared the way for Carrington, and the other petitioners, to practice and compete with their teams as fully-eligible participants.

Following off-season surgery, Gard says the 6-foot-5 guard has “been in everything” with his team. The two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year added that as long as Carrington “is eligible, he’s probably going to play.”

A hearing on a preliminary injunction in Carrington’s suit against the NCAA is scheduled for October 20th, according to Sam Ehrlich’s College Sports Litigation Tracker.

Carrington was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice, but he was not made available to speak to members of the media when the other 14 members of UW’s roster were.

Wisconsin basketball forwards undergo successful surgery and rehab

Forwards Nolan Winter and Austin Rapp also spent much of the summer recovering from injuries. After offseason ankle surgery, Winter is “full throttle,” according to Gard and Rapp “will be coming full throttle this week,” but the Australian big man’s status for this Saturday’s exhibition contest against UW-Parkside remains in question.

“I haven’t had that discussion with the medical team,” said Gard.

While Rapp and preseason All-Big Ten selection Winter have been sidelined, projected reserve forwards Will Garlock and Victory Onuetu took extra reps in practice during the summer. Gard sees that as a silver lining as it “forced those two to have to be on the floor a lot.”

“We didn’t have another 7-footer or 7-1 guy to to match up with the the other,” Gard said. “So you know the first thing was you just watch the competitive level grow in each of them.”

Gard complimented the pair’s development during the summer. He said the sophomore Garlock made “tremendous strides” in the weight room getting “bigger, stronger,” and Onuetu, a transfer from Hofstra of the Coastal Athletic Association, adapted to the level of physicality in a power conference.

Full-steam ahead for Owen Foxwell

A five-year veteran of the Australian NBL, Owen Foxwell arrived in Madison with the experience Gard seeks. The 23-year-old point guard will likely only play one year of college basketball under the new age-based eligibility model, but “he’s ruled eligible. Completely eligible,” Gard said.

Gard remarked that when the Big Ten’s deadline approached for program’s to appoint team representatives for conference media days, the NCAA had not yet made that final eligibility determination for Foxwell. Winter and Miami (OH) Redhawks transfer Eian Elmer got the nod to speak for the Wisconsin Badgers this week.

“Owen could have represented us as well,” Gard commented. “But at the time we had to turn it into the league, we were still—we hadn’t been rendered a decision yet.”

Sophomore guard Zach Kinziger, who has practiced in a reserve point guard role for Wisconsin this offseason, spoke glowingly about the veteran and what he can bring to Madison this winter, especially as a changeup from what opposing teams may have expected with former lead guard Nick Boyd at the top of the scouting report.

“His pace of play, I’ve really tried to implement into my game because he does a really good job of it, and I’ve realized how hard it is to guard,” the De Pere native said. “He’s obviously a great point guard who makes tremendous reads with the ball in his hands, so I’m excited to see what he does on the court this year.”

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