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UW merciless in blowout victories over Mercyhurst
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Also by Tom Ziemer:
- Much maligned UW defense rebounds to pitch shutout (September 12, 2005)
- Williams attracts 'special' attention in loss (October 10, 2005)
- Badgers run over in Happy Valley (November 7, 2005)
- Young UW defense steps to forefront in intra-squad contest (April 18, 2005)
- Williams making noise for UW's return team (September 13, 2005)
Related Stories:
- Mercyhurst 1st on docket for UW (October 15, 2004)
- Special teams power Badger victory over Lakers (October 18, 2004)
- Wisconsin faces first WCHA opponent of '04 (October 22, 2004)
- UW adapts to change in officiating (October 19, 2004)
- Elliott, Davies power UW breakthrough (February 12, 2007)
by Tom Ziemer
Monday, October 18, 2004
The No. 6 Wisconsin men's hockey team opened up its season with a sweep of Mercyhurst, beating the Lakers 3-2 Friday night and 8-0 Saturday.
"We took great steps this weekend," head coach Mike Eaves said. "We talked after the game as a group, and we said, 'You know the last time we played games before this weekend was six months ago.' It takes a little bit of a while to get the rust off and to get in the flow of the game, to get up to game speed."
"As the weekend went along, I thought we picked it up," he added. "But the one constant that was there throughout the weekend was our ability to play with great conditioning."
In Saturday's blowout victory, in which every forward line scored at least one goal, the Badgers dominated from the drop of the puck. With 7:50 expired, freshman forward Matt Auffrey scored on a wrap-around — his second goal of the weekend.
"Matt's hard to play against because he's, this may sound funny, but he's got a big ol' fanny," Eaves said. "When he gets in front of the net and when he gets along the boards, he's hard to get around. He protects the puck, and he scored his goals; his long reach came around and scored one tonight. He played to his strengths this weekend."
Junior forward Ryan MacMurchy, who sat out of Friday's contest due to suspension, assisted on Auffrey's goal, and provided the helpers on the next two UW goals, scored by sophomores Jake Dowell and Ross Carlson, to put the Badgers up 3-0 heading into the third period.
"I was definitely trying to prove something," MacMurchy said. "It was really tough sitting out, and I wanted to play, and it took forever to finally get in there it seemed like after watching last night."
Sophomore goaltender Brian Elliott got the start in goal, and recorded his first career shutout, stopping 18 shots.
"Everything went great … feeling the puck at the start was a little shaky, but I got back into the game and it felt really good," Elliott said. "Everything was coming right into my chest, and just sucking it right in."
Wisconsin put the game out of reach with a five-goal third period, including three goals in less than three minutes.
"As the weekend went along, I thought we picked it up, but the one constant that was there throughout the weekend was our ability to play with great conditioning," Eaves said. "That paid off. In both third periods we kind of, we won ourself a game last night, and we opened up the spread tonight in the third period."
In Friday's contest, Wisconsin fell behind early after a pair of Mercyhurst power play goals in the first period even after out shooting the Lakers 12 to 6. Despite trailing, the Badgers weren't about to hit the panic button.
"As a captain I'm trying to make sure no one's panicking," captain Adam Burish said. "When we got in the dressing room down 2-0 the first thing I said was, 'Let's relax.' First game jitters, a lot of young guys in the lineup that were nervous, you could see they were nervous, let's relax."
Wisconsin got on the board with 1:40 remaining in the second period on a power play goal by Auffrey that was deflected into the net off of the skate of a Mercyhurst defender. In the third period, the Badgers took complete control against a tired Laker team.
Dowell tied the score on a power play goal, with assists to Carlson and Burish. Sophomore Robbie "Hollywood" Earl scored the game winner with 5:25 remaining in the game on a rebound after freshman Joe Pavelski's shot was stopped.
"I'm not sure if Mercyhurst kept that same tempo up that they had early," Eaves said. "They were pretty excited to be here, they got an early lead, but I think we just kind of wore them down a little bit."
Preseason WCHA player of the year, Bernd Bruckler, recovered after allowing the two first period goals to get the win, recording 22 saves.
"It's a difficult game to play when you see your teammates struggle at the beginning to score," Bruckler said. "All I have to keep in mind is to keep them in the game, and do the best I can do back there."
Even after an impressive opening weekend, the Badgers are prepared to take their game up another level for the opening of WCHA play.
"We should be better I think next weekend," MacMurchy said.
