With an impressive 7-3 victory at the Kohl Center Saturday night, the UW men’s hockey team completed a two-game sweep over the Mavericks of Minnesota State and earned an invitation to this weekend’s WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn.
Saturday night’s triumph marked the fourth consecutive win for the Badgers (16-18-4 overall), who will continue into the postseason riding their longest winning streak of the season. Saturday’s game also marked the final appearance at the Kohl Center for UW head coach Jeff Sauer, who will retire from Wisconsin with a 34-4-0 record in WCHA playoff games played in Madison.
As a bonus, Sauer celebrated his 59th birthday over the weekend.
Friday night’s affair saw a back-and-forth contest concluding with an overtime goal by Matt Murray at the 7:06 mark, sealing a 3-2 victory for the Badgers.
Minnesota State opened up the scoring early when freshman Grant Stevenson put one past UW-goaltender Scott Kabotoff just 2:40 into the opening period, giving the Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
UW responded with two second-period goals by sophomore John Eichelberger and senior Matt Hussey. A Minnesota State goal in the final minutes of the third period tied the game at two and sent it into overtime.
A controversial Murray goal, which appeared to have never crossed the goal line, ended the contest, giving the Badgers a 1-0 lead in the best of three series.
Saturday night’s game featured an explosive, physical atmosphere, dominated in all aspects by the Badgers, who gave the 11,019 people in attendance one last glimpse of their potential before heading to the Xcel Energy Center for the conclusion of the tournament this weekend.
Freshman Alex Leavitt put Wisconsin on the board first, taking a pass from Dan Boeser past MSU netminder Jason Jensen. The Badgers extended their lead at the 14:27 mark of the period, when Matt Doman redirected a John Krall slap shot.
The Mavericks pulled to within one in the final minute of the period, when junior Jerry Cunningham beat UW-goalie Bernd Bruckler and the first period ended with Wisconsin leading 2-1.
Three 2nd period goals by Wisconsin ripped open the game, as the experience and determination of the Badgers proved too much for the young Maverick team. Junior Brian Fahey rifled one through traffic to begin the scoring entourage, and Hussy and Rene Borque followed with goals of their own.
A physical third period ensued, as Minnesota State’s season drew near an end. Hussey added his second goal of the game on a pretty one-timer from Brad Winchester and moments later David Hukalo took one the length of the ice, carving through the Maverick defense before flipping the puck into the net.
Bruckler was superb in net, tallying 26 saves before giving way to senior Mark Baranczyk. Three different lines scored for the Badgers, who forced the opposing team to change goaltenders for the second consecutive weekend.
UW will take on fourth seeded Colorado College in Thursday night’s play-in game, before possibly facing Denver in the single elimination format of the Final Five. If the Badgers hope to compete in this year’s NCAA tournament, they must win all three games this weekend against three of the top-10 teams in the nation.
Despite the fierce competition at hand, UW remains confident in its chances this weekend as it enters as one of the hottest teams in the conference.
“We’ve got some confidence and momentum now,” Sauer commented. “I just hope we can carry that into the weekend.”
