Head coach Mike Eaves is slowly molding UW’s men’s hockey program to fit his liking. After the completion of this weekend’s series against Alabama-Huntsville in which UW took both games, Eaves has his team on a three-game win streak. Not bad for two weekends of work.
Recording their first sweep of a non-conference opponent in a little less than two seasons, the Badgers took Friday night’s game 4-2 and then followed with a 3-2 victory in the next game. The two series games were strangely reminiscent of each other; however, both contests began with Badger leads only to see UAH mount late-period rallies, providing the series with a dramatic air.
In the Friday’s opener, the Badgers scored a goal in each of the first two periods and then added another pair in the third to go up 4-0. However, Wisconsin only played together in short glimpses amidst mental errors; the team did not appear to be at the top of its game.
Alabama-Huntsville (0-2) capitalized twice in the late stages of the final period to spoil senior goaltender Scott Kabotoff’s bid for a shutout. Kabotoff made 31 saves, witnessed three pucks bounce off the pipes and stymied six of seven Charger power plays, spearheading the UW defense.
“The goaltending kept us in it,” said senior winger Brad Winchester, who scored once and had a hand in two other goals.
Kabotoff was first beaten on a power play and allowed a second goal with just over one minute left after falsely assuming that the puck was in his glove. Other than the late additions by UAH, Kabotoff played exceptionally well.
The following evening, the Badgers took another step in the Eaves scheme with the series-sweeping win.
Eaves, who has been playing with new lineups, suited four new faces and sat four upperclassmen that played Friday. Included in the mix was defenseman Dan Boeser, whose cancer-therapy comeback was put on hold after he sustained a hand injury on the last line of the previous evening’s game.
“We were much more focused [Saturday],” Eaves said. “It’s been back-to-back
Fridays that we just slipped back.”
After the first period ended, freshman Nick Licari took a pass from fellow freshman Brent Gibson and passed UAH’s Adam MacLean glove side, scoring for the first time in his career.
Four minutes later, defenseman Chris Julka matched Licari and bagged the first goal of his career. MacLean, who was pulled moments later for Scott Munroe, was screened and let the blue-line shot by Julka slip past him, putting UW up 2-0.
“When guys like [Licari and Julka] chip in for us, it’s a real momentum swinger,” sophomore Alex Leavitt noted.
Leavitt lit the lamp seven minutes later for the game-winner and third goal of the period. Leavitt hustled behind a near breakaway play by freshman Ryan MacMurchy who pulled up taking a wicked slapshot that sent the puck caroming to right of Munroe with Leavitt flicking it gingerly over the fallen keeper, seemingly cementing the Badgers win.
True to form the prior evening, the Chargers answered just 50 seconds later on a breakaway by Karlis Zirnis, making it 3-1 at the end of the second. UW goalkeeper Bernd Bruckler, who made a team-high nine saves in the third period, was solved once again with seven minutes remaining.
The second power-play goal allowed by the Badgers in the third period of the series found Jared Ross’s wrist to a one-hander past Bruckler’s glove, sending it to the opposite side upper shelf for a 3-2 score. The Badgers managed to hang on without further damage done.
“I felt that we played 50 minutes of this game strong, and the last 10 minutes we lost our focus,” Leavitt said. “It shouldn’t have been a close game at the end. [Eaves’ scheme] is a learning process, and I think we’re still learning.”
Wisconsin, who tallied its 50th victory at the Kohl Center, figures to see its competition significantly heighten next weekend when the Badgers leave Madison for the first time this year.
The Badgers will pack their bags and head to 8th-ranked Boston College Friday, with Northeastern slated for Saturday.
