SPORTS
Turris, Geoffrion lift UW
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Also by Tyler Mason:
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- Young Badgers set to face experience in Robert Morris (October 19, 2007)
by Tyler Mason
Monday, October 22, 2007
It was an offensive explosion at the Kohl Center over the weekend, as the Wisconsin men’s hockey team scored 15 goals in two games, winning 7-2 Friday and 8-2 Saturday over the Robert Morris Colonials (2-2-0).
Seven different Badgers got into the scoring mix Saturday night, with sophomore Blake Geoffrion getting things rolling. Freshman Patrick Johnson played the puck behind the Robert Morris goal before dishing it off to fellow freshman Podge Turnbull. Turnbull’s pass deflected off Colonials goaltender Wes Russell and made its way to Geoffrion, who found the back of the net.
Wisconsin (3-1-0) would add two more goals in the first period. Freshman Kyle Turris collected the puck after Kyle Klubertanz’s shot rebounded to the left side of the zone. Turris snuck the shot behind a Robert Morris defender and past Russell, who was out of position. The goal was Turris’ fifth of the season in just four games.
After Johnson notched his first goal as a Badger midway through the first, Robert Morris answered with two goals of his own, turning what appeared to be a comfortable 3-0 lead into a tight 3-2 score. The Colonials’ J.C. Velasquez found the net late in the first, and Ryan Cruthers scored on a breakaway in the first minute of the second period after Wisconsin’s Brendan Smith got turned around at center ice.
It would be all Wisconsin from that point, however, as the Badgers were able to turn the corner and score five more goals over the second and third periods.
“You always want to have a turning point in the game,” Eaves said. “As well as we were playing, it was only 3-2. Getting that fourth was really something we needed at the time. We just went from there.”
Turnbull and Michael Davies would get their first goals of the season in the second. Davies would score again in the third, as would Klubertanz and Smith.
Wisconsin goalie Scott Gudmandson — making his first career start for UW — shook off some early nerves to finish with 25 saves. He electrified the crowd in the third with an impressive glove save after the initial shot bounced off his pads.
“It’s pretty wild; the most amount of people I’d played in front of before was about 1,000 people,” Gudmandson said. “I was pretty nervous out there, and I think it showed a little bit. I was shaky in the first two periods.”
Geoffrion finished the night with five points, as he netted four assists to go along with his first period goal.
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my linemates tonight,” Geoffrion said. “It was good to get the monkey off my back early in the season here. I’ve just got to keep it going.”
“I think the whole process for Blake has been one of a maturation as a person,” head coach Mike Eaves said. “He’s growing into being a young man that understands what his strengths are and he’s starting to play to those. It’s really fun to see.”
The Badgers poured on the scoring Friday night as well, as the goals came early and often in a 7-2 win.
Ben Street started things off quickly for Wisconsin, scoring just 29 seconds into the game, with assists from a pair of Kyle’s — Klubertanz and Turris. The goal set the tone for UW, indicating how they would dictate the pace of the game.
“I don’t think [Robert Morris] really played the game they wanted to play,” Street said. “It was part of our game plan to come out fast and not really give them a chance to be in the game. I think we did that pretty well with an early goal.”
Wisconsin would add two more in the first. Klubertanz took a one-timer from Patrick Johnson and lit the lamp for UW, giving it a 2-0 lead. Later in the period, Ryan McDonagh earned his first goal as a Badger when he poked the puck through traffic and past Colonials’ goalie Christian Boucher.
Turris demonstrated why he was the No. 3 overall selection in the NHL draft, as he notched two goals of his own. The first came at the end of the second period on a power play. With time winding down, Turris took a pass from Smith, skated past the blue line, and fired off a shot that blew past Boucher. The goal put UW up 4-1 with just three seconds remaining in the second period.
“I was just letting it fly,” Turris said of the goal. “I just wanted to get a quick shot before the buzzer went, and lucky enough it went it.”
The Badgers would add three more goals in the final period. Turris would again find the net, this time after rescuing the puck from a scrum in front of the crease. As several players battled for the puck in front of Robert Morris’ goal, Turris skated across the zone, found the puck in traffic and fired past Russell.
“We passed a test, which was to play back-to-back nights and play at a pretty high level,” Eaves said. “I would say out of the six periods we played this weekend, we played five pretty darn well. That’s a good test.”
Wisconsin has next weekend off and will start WCHA play Nov. 2 against Michigan Tech at home.
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