MADISON, Wis. – In their first game of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers dropped a last-minute 5-4 decision to the Wayne State Warriors at the Kohl Center Friday evening.
The Badgers took the early lead off of senior Matt Doman’s goal at 1:02 in the first period. Teammate David Hukalo scored eight minutes later, off of assists from freshman Alex Leavitt and sophomore Dan Boeser, to make it a 2-0 Badger lead. With only seconds left in the first period, Wayne State’s Dusty Kingston beat UW goalkeeper Scott Kabotoff and brought the visiting Warriors into the game at 2-1.
The Kohl Center crowd then witnessed a continuing lead-change on the ice during the second and third periods. Boeser increased the UW lead to 3-1, assisted by Kent Davyduke, to start the second period. But Wayne State stormed the Wisconsin net, scoring three unanswered goals to close out the second period 4-3.
Badger freshman Leavitt brought the crowd back to its feet in the final period, slipping the puck past Wayne State’s netminder Dave Guerrera to tie up the score at 4-4. With five minutes left in the game and the Badgers fighting for the edge, Wayne State’s Jack Redwood knocked the puck past Kabotoff to take the win.
In the net, Kabotoff collected 22 total saves for UW, while Guerrera earned 50 saves for the Warriors.
Facing the Warriors again in the series, the Badgers look to avenge their season-opening loss Saturday at the Kohl Center. Face-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
