Lakers to make third Badger Showdown appearance

SAULT STE. MARIE - Lake Superior State, which is making its third appearance in the 20^th annual Badger Showdown, takes on Harvard at 5:07 p.m. EST Saturday at the Kohl Center. 

The showdown lineup also includes Alabama-Huntsville and host Wisconsin, who will face off Saturday at 8:07 p.m. EST. Win or lose, the Badgers will play Sunday's late game, which will be televised on Fox Sports-Wisconsin. Alabama-Huntsville and either LSSU or Harvard will meet in the early game. LSSU's games will be broadcast live on Rock 101 with a live video web stream available on http://www.uwbadgers.com/audio_video/.

The Lakers (4-8-6 overall), who are 0-4-3 in their last seven games, open against Harvard (4-6-2), a team that they last played during the 1994 NCAA semifinals. They are 1-2 all-time against the Crimson and 2-2 all-time at the Badger Showdown. Harvard has not played since Dec. 5-6 when North Dakota swept a non-conference series, 10-1 and 4-3. The Crimson are winless (0-4-2) in their last six games.

Alabama-Huntsville is 2-9-1 overall, while 16^th-ranked Wisconsin is 9-7-2. The Badgers recovered from a 0-6-1 start and are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. LSSU is 1-3 all-time against Wisconsin and 0-1-1 against Alabama-Huntsville.

LSSU's previous Badger Showdown appearances were in 1994 and 2006. The Lakers defeated Northeastern, 5-4, and lost to Wisconsin, 6-4, in 1994. Two years ago, they edged Providence, 2-1, and lost to Clarkson, 3-2. When they were sophomores, Troy Schwab scored the game-winning goal against the Friars, while Josh Sim scored both goals against Clarkson and totaled 2-2-4 for the weekend.

Lake Superior State is the only Central Collegiate Hockey Association opponent that Harvard will play during the regular season. The Crimson are led in scoring by freshman forward Alex Killorn (3-6-9), while senior forward Nick Coskren (4-1-5) is the team's top goal scorer. Their top four points leaders are all freshmen and sophomores, and their No. 1 goaltender is freshman Matt Hoyle with a 2.65 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.

Junior Zac MacVoy (7-7-14) leads the Lakers in points and is tied with Schwab (7-6-13) and freshman Fred Cassiani (7-3-10) in goals scored. Junior defenseman Steven Kaunisto (1-10-11) leads the team in assists. Sophomore goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson is 4-5-5 with a 2.43 GAA and .925 save percentage. Junior goaltender Pat Inglis is 0-3-1 with a 2.67 GAA and .910 save percentage. Inglis returned to the rotation on Dec. 13 after missing 11 games due to an ankle injury.