Quick Six: Men’s hockey takes on Michigan State in NCAA Regional Final
WORCESTER, Mass.– The Wisconsin males’s hockey staff has superior to the second spherical of the NCAA match! The Badgers will face No. 1 seed Michigan State in the regional closing on Saturday, March 28, at 3:30 pm CT at DCU Center. The recreation airs on ESPN2 and the ESPN app.
Here are six fast issues to know earlier than tuning in:
1 – KEEP ON DANCING: To advance to the NCAA Regional Final, Wisconsin defeated the Dartmouth Big Green, 5-1, in the match regional semifinals on Thursday, March 26. The win despatched UW to its first regional closing since 2010, and it marks its first NCAA Tournament recreation win because the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four semifinals, snapping a five-game NCAA shedding streak.
SEE YOU SATURDAY, BADGER FANS! 💥 pic.twitter.com/s4HFrcG9zP
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 27, 2026
Senior Simon Tassy scored early on the facility play, earlier than the Big Green discovered the again of the online to tie the sport at one. It stayed 1-1 untill halfway by way of the third interval when senior Jack Horbach broke the tie to jump-start a four-goal third body for the Badgers.
Tassy struck once more with lower than six minutes left in the sport to make it 3-1, UW, earlier than senior Christian Fitzgerald and junior Quinn Finley added empty-net objectives to sign a 5-1 win for UW in its first assembly in college historical past towards Dartmouth.
Good night time, Badger followers pic.twitter.com/5O22zNqH1H
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 27, 2026
With the win, the Badgers improved to 38-24-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament motion in their twenty eighth official look.
2 – PREGAME FAN EVENT: Join fellow Badger followers at Off the Rails in Worcester earlier than Wisconsin’s 2026 NCAA Tournament Regional Final recreation on Saturday, March 28!
The occasion will happen from 1:30-3:30 pm ET at Off the Rails (90 Commercial St, Worcester, MA 01608), positioned simply 0.2 miles from DCU Arena, the place Wisconsin is about to play Michigan State at 4:30 pm ET.
Bucky Badger and the Badger Band shall be in attendance, and giveaways shall be accessible for followers whereas provides final.
3 – SENIORS SHINE BRIGHT: Senior forwards Jack Horbach, Simon Tassy and Christian Fitzgerald stood out in UW’s contest towards Dartmouth.
Horbach scored the game-winning objective, breaking the 1-1 tie at 9:47 of the third interval. This marked his second game-winning objective of the yr on simply his third tally of the season.
NIIIIIFTY HORBS 😮💨
The senior’s third objective of the yr places us in entrance!
🍎: Vasily Zelenov & Jack Phelan pic.twitter.com/m67Kz1t6eW
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 26, 2026
Tassy recorded his first two-goal recreation of the yr, opening the scoring on the facility play, 2:52 into the sport, earlier than tallying his second objective at 14:17 of the third interval, redirecting a Ryan Botterill shot house.
MR. FAN-TASS-TIC! 🌟
The senior’s (@simontassy) second objective of the sport!
🍎: Ryan Botterill & Oliver Tulk pic.twitter.com/4Llfp79dWX
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 27, 2026
With an empty internet tally at 16:28 into the third, Fitzgerald notched his a centesimal profession NCAA level, making him the primary Badger since All-American Linus Weissbach (2017-21) reached the mark in 2021. The senior tallied his first 29 factors as a freshman at Minnesota State.
Mr. 💯
Congratulations, Fitzy (@13Fitzgerald)! pic.twitter.com/XKru9VKmK7
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 27, 2026
4 – GOALS GALLORE: In Thursday’s recreation, UW tallied 4 objectives in the third interval, giving it eight four-goal intervals on the season and the 18th interval with at the very least three objectives.
HIGH FIVE, FINLEY! 🖐️ https://t.co/WVzDFf7FK8
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) March 27, 2026
It was additionally the 14th time this yr the Badgers have scored at the very least 5 objectives in a recreation, essentially the most in a single season because the 2009-10 staff tallied 18.
Wisconsin is presently tied for fifth in the NCAA in scoring offense with a median of three.75 objectives scored per recreation, discovering the again of the online 135 instances in 36 video games performed this season.
5 – SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE: Big Ten regular-season champion and regional first-seed Michigan State enters the regional closing with a 26-8-2 file, defeating fourth-seed UConn, 2-1, in the semifinals to advance.
Freshman ahead Porter Martone leads the roster with 25 objectives and 49 factors in 34 video games performed. Junior goaltender Trey Augustine, a 2026 Mike Richter Award top-3 finalist and a top-10 Hobey Baker finalist, has gained 24 of 33 begins this season, accumulating a .931 save proportion and a couple of.05 goals-allowed on common. Senior ahead Charlie Stramel can be a Hobey Baker top-10 finalist.
UW has performed MSU twice in the NCAA match, posting a 5-3 win in the primary spherical on March 24, 1995, in Madison earlier than shedding 5-1 in the second spherical on March 25, 2001, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Overall, UW has a 67-71-4 file towards the Spartans, splitting 4 instances in regular-season play through the 2025-26 season. UW started the season sequence by sweeping the then-top-ranked Spartans in East Lansing on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21-22, profitable recreation one, 5-4, and recreation two, 2-1, in extra time.
6 – HOW TO WATCH: The Badgers will play Michigan State on Saturday, March 28, at 3:30 pm CT. The contest airs on ESPN2. Audio play-by-play for each video games could be discovered on 1310 WIBA in the Madison space, in addition to on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network App. You also can observe alongside on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
