National champs keep Wisconsin in check for Kwip Trip Holiday Face-Off title

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Held to a single goal for the first time since mid-November, Wisconsin fell to defending national champion Western Michigan, 4-1, in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off championship game Dec. 30 at Fiserv Forum.

The Broncos scored the final four goals, beginning with a controversial play early in the second period and culminating with an empty-netter from former Badger William Whitelaw in the final three minutes and then an insurance goal seconds after the ensuing faceoff.

Wisconsin has played for the championship in each of the six editions of the tournament, winning four of the first five. With the Badgers (13-3-2, 8-2-0 Big Ten) second in the USCHO.com rankings and Broncos (12-6-0, 6-4-0 NCHC) seventh, this marked the first time top-10 teams matched up in the final.

“That’s a little bit of a heavyweight tilt, two games back-to-back off break, and we had some good looks there in the third period,” Wisconsin coach Mike Hastings said.

“There’s a reason they won the national championship last year, and they’re a good hockey team. So I thought it was a good hockey game. Didn’t like the way it ended.”

The teams had not met since UW won its 2005 Badger Hockey Showdown semifinal at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Wisconsin center Vasily Zelenov has his shot disrupted by Western Michigan defenders in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off championship game Dec. 29 at Fiserv Forum.

Another freaky goal in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off

The 2024 Face-Off title was decided on a shot that didn’t go into the net when UW’s Cody Lasosky was awarded a goal after being tripped on a breakaway toward an empty net against Connecticut.

The 2025 answer to that came on Western Michigan’s go-ahead goal. With Western Michigan players resting on the back and legs of face-down Wisconsin goaltender Eli Pulver in the crease Broncos right wing Zaccharya Wisdom pushed Wisconsin defenseman Zach Horbach – and the puck beneath him – across the end line and into the goal.

Wisconsin challenged, but the goal stood.

“I’ve been around for a while, and I’ll ask you: If a referee loses sight of a puck, what do you do? Keep looking for it?” Hastings said.

“In my opinion I thought that whistle could have been blown because once you lose sight of a puck, my understanding is the whistle is supposed to come. He didn’t feel that way. That’s where our opinions just differ.”

Western Michigan went ahead midway through the second period when junior center Grant Slukynsky intercepted a pass by UW senior defenseman Ben Dexheimer and fed it to sophomore right wing Zach Nehring at the back post.

Wisconsin had several chances to tie but couldn’t capitalize, including a breakaway from senior left wing Christian Fitzgerald that Western Michigan goalie Hampton Slukynsky stopped and a shot from Dexheimer that went off the post.

The Badgers were 0 for 3 on the power play after going 1 for 4 in a victory over Lake Superior State the previous night.

“One thing I take away from our players’ side is we kept playing but they were on top of us a lot and I didn’t think we managed that pressure as well as we could have,” Hastings said.

“To me it’s executing a little bit better, being a little bit better on the power play, because that’s the first time in a long time we’ve been held to one goal and we had some opportunities and just didn’t finish.”

Wisconsin waits on news on Vasily Zelenov

Russian freshman Vasily Zelenov scored the Badgers’ only goal midway through the first period and then suffered an apparent right leg injury in the third.

The second-line center slid into the boards with a Western Michigan player on him and was in obvious pain as he lay on the ice. He was helped off, and Hastings said in his postgame media session the team didn’t immediately know the extent of his injury and wasn’t sure if Zelenov would travel back to Madison with the team or have further treatment in Milwaukee.

Wisconsin already was short-handed, playing without first-line forward Quinn Finley, who is competing with the U.S. Collegiate Selects team at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland, and defensemen Luke Osborn and Logan Hensler, who were with Team USA for the IIHF World Junior Championships in Minnesota.

Next on the schedule for Wisconsin men’s hockey

The Badgers open 2026 with games Jan. 9-10 against Alaska Anchorage at the Kohl Center and then have eight series over nine weekends against Big Ten opponents through the rest of the regular season. Key matchups include Jan. 15-16 against No. 3 Michigan State and Feb. 20-21 against No. 1 Michigan, both at the Kohl Center.

Boston College wins consolation game

Boston College survived two overlapping late penalties plus Lake Superior State pulling its goalie to hang on for a 4-3 victory in the third-place game. Will Vote scored two goals in a span of just over three minutes early in the third period to cap a wild stretch of four goals that included two ties and two lead changes.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin falls to Western Michigan in Fiserv Forum hockey tournament

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