Following an extended layoff after their early exit in the conference tournament, the Wisconsin Badgers return to action on Thursday with the NCAA Tournament opener against Dartmouth. The Badgers are making their second tournament appearance under head coach Mike Hastings, who is looking for his first tournament win at Wisconsin and the program’s first win since 2010.
Their opponent, Dartmouth (23-7-4 overall), finished runner-up in the ECAC regular season to Quinnipiac before besting Princeton in the ECAC championship
game. They are 2-1 against tournament teams by virtue of splitting the season series with Quinnipiac and picking up a win earlier this year against Merrimack and 3-2 against ranked opponents overall. Thursday’s regional semifinal is the first-ever meeting between Wisconsin and Dartmouth.
The Big Green are undefeated in their last eight games, going 6-0-2. Their last loss came to Brown back on Valentine’s Day.
Dartmouth has relied heavily on home cooking this year, going 17-1-2 at home compared to only 5-6-2 on the road. They went 1-0 in neutral site games during the regular season, though the regional just outside of Boston may have Dartmouth feeling more at home than the other teams in the group, save for UConn.
Of the two teams, the Badgers have no doubt played a tougher schedule to get them ready for the tournament, but none of that matters once the puck drops in a single-elimination tournament. While Wisconsin is more battle-tested, Dartmouth already has four postseason wins under its belt en route to the ECAC Championship—two against Colgate, one against Clarkson, and its title game win over Princeton.
The Badgers have failed to advance past the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament since 2021, so it’s not only NCAA Tournament success that’s evaded Wisconsin lately; they’ve struggled in the conference tournament as well. If the Badgers are to buck the trend on Thursday, they will need to lean on the electric offense that carried them through the first half of the season.
Easier said than done, as Dartmouth has conceded the second-fewest goals in the NCAA (70) and is giving up just over two goals per game, thanks in large part to the work of junior goaltender Emmett Croteau. A sixth-round pick by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022, Croteau boasts a goals against average under two while posting a .924 save percentage; however, his goals against average inflates to just over three in the small sample size against ranked teams.
Offensively, Dartmouth’s scoring average hovers just under Wisconsin at 3.65 goals per game. Their not-so-secret weapon is sophomore forward Hayden Stavroff, a top-ten Hobey Baker finalist who leads the NCAA in goals with 29 on the season, just a small handful away from averaging a goal per game.
Stavroff flanks sophomore center Hank Cleaves, who has 17 goals of his own and is the primary set-up man for Dartmouth. The bulk of their production comes directly from Stavroff and Cleaves, so it stands to reason that slowing them down would effectively grind the Big Green offense to a halt. That being said, plenty of teams have entered games against Dartmouth intent on stopping Stavroff; you don’t become the NCAA’s leading scorer without being able to adapt when teams zero in on slowing you down.
The good news for the Badgers is that they don’t have to completely stop Stavroff, they just need to outscore him. Wisconsin has not banked on strong defensive performances all year, mostly due to defensive injuries and inexperienced goaltenders. Hauser, the freshman, flashed at times early in the season before struggling a bit and missing time due to injury. Sophomore transfer Eli Pulver occupied the crease in his stead, though Pulver endured a stretch where he couldn’t finish a start.
Hauser has played some more consistent hockey since returning from injury last month. There are still a few goals he’d like to have back, but Wisconsin has finally gotten some of the big saves in net that they’d been missing in the second half of the season. This is not a Kyle McClellan team that looks to only score one goal or two and ride their goaltender across the finish line. This Badger team is more offensively minded. One or two big saves could be all they need, plus a little consistency with keeping the cheap ones out of the net.
Another thing Wisconsin has going for it is the element of surprise. There is not one player on the Badger roster who has as many goals as Dartmouth’s second-leading scorer. Christian Fitzgerald and Quinn Finley are tied for the team lead with 15 goals apiece. Simon Tassy is the only other double-digit scorer with 11 goals. Ryan Botterill and Blake Montgomery are knocking on the door with nine each. Wisconsin gets contributions from all over the ice and isn’t reliant on one goal scorer or their top line to kickstart the offense. Anybody can be the hero on any given day.
If there is one player who stirs the drink more than anybody, it’s sophomore center Gavin Morrissey. Wisconsin’s top assist man has been playing his best hockey over the last month after dealing with a January injury that cost him three games against Michigan State and Penn State. He’s posted 12 points in the last ten games and has a knack for always being around the action. If the Badgers need a spark on Thursday, look for them to get the puck to Morrissey as their most trusted playmaker.
The hour is nearly upon us, a tournament game that seemed like a pipe dream at the end of January and a chance to close the book on a long NCAA Tournament losing streak that’s been a black eye on a historic program. It’s time to see if playing with their backs against the wall down the stretch will pay dividends in the tournament, where the best teams play desperate from the opening faceoff. Can Hastings and his squad finally get Wisconsin back to competitive hockey in March? We’ll know more on Thursday night.
Game Info
Date: March 26
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Place: Worcester, Mass. | DCU Center
TV: ESPNU | Radio: 1310 WIBA
