On the Radar
Wisconsin one step away from Frozen Four
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by Associated Press
Saturday, March 29, 2008
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Michael Davies didn’t let Wisconsin’s home ice advantage go to waste, scoring two goals and adding an assist to lead the Badgers to a 6-2 victory over Denver on Saturday night in the NCAA Midwest regional.
The second-seeded Pioneers couldn’t catch a break early, sending four shots off posts, and got bowled over late, falling to 0-11 in the postseason against Wisconsin.
The Badgers, who had played just two games since March 1 and spent most of the last week defending why they belonged in the NCAA tournament with a sub-.500 record, will play WCHA rival North Dakota for a Frozen Four berth on Sunday night.
But first, Wisconsin (16-16-7) had to dispatch another conference foe in Denver, which returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since it won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005.
Up 1-0, Wisconsin, the 2006 NCAA champion also back in the tournament for the first time since its title, scored near the midway point of the second period after Denver defenseman J.P. Testwuide was called for cross checking.
On the ensuing power play, Wisconsin’s Kyle Turris fed Josh Engel for a slap shot that was redirected at the front of the net by defenseman Jamie McBain, who placed it over Denver goalie Peter Mannino’s pad to make it 2-0.
Dustin Jackson got the Pioneers on the board when he settled the puck with his skate, turned the puck from backhand to forehand and flipped it high over Badgers goalie Shane Connelly for a power-play goal late in the second period.
But midway through the third period, the Badgers broke the game open.
First, Cody Goloubef fired a hard slap shot that hit the goal post, deflected off Mannino and went back across the goal line. Exactly one minute later, John Mitchell broke away and sent another puck past Mannino to give Wisconsin a 4-1 lead.
Denver (26-14-1) answered with 8:13 to play when Tom May took Jesse Martin’s pass and scored past Connelly. But the Pioneers gave up another breakaway goal, this time to Davies with just over five minutes to play, and Davis Drewiske added an empty-net goal off a pass from Davies with 2:46 left for the final margin.
Wisconsin, just the fourth team ever to enter the NCAA tournament with a losing record, is looking for something only Minnesota (1971) managed in that group: getting to a championship game.
Mannino, a senior who came in with a 3-0 record in the NCAA tournament and a national title he won as a freshman, gave up a tough goal early when Davies flipped the puck over his goal stick to make it 1-0. The Pioneers failed to answer as four shots rang off the posts in the first two periods of the game.
