ST. PAUL, Minn. — Sophomore left wing Peter Sejna of Colorado College sent a backhander high over the shoulder of Wisconsin netminder Scott Kabotoff from 10 feet out just 53 seconds into sudden-death overtime to lift the ninth-ranked Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Badgers in the quarterfinal game of the WCHA Final Five at the Xcel Energy Center Thursday night before 11,721 fans.
The win vaulted CC into Friday’s 2:05 p.m. semifinal game against top-seeded Denver.
CC led 1-0 after the opening period as Colin Stuart’s shot from the slot trickled past Kabotoff at 17:35. Each team had six shots on net in the opening 20 minutes.
Wisconsin dominated the middle period, out-shooting CC 13-6. The Badgers got the lone goal of the stanza at 3:49 as sophomore wing Rene Bourque put one home from just outside the crease and to Tiger netminder Jeff Sanger’s right.
Colorado College looked as if it might win the game in regulation as senior Chris Hartsburg put one past Kabotoff from the left faceoff circle at 14:49. But the Badgers did not quit. Senior forward Matt Doman’s 11th goal of the year from the dot in the right faceoff circle with 1:31 left forced overtime.
Sanger had 25 saves in the win while Kabotoff made 17 stops. UW (16-19-4) was 0-6 on the power play, while CC (25-11-3) failed on its two-man advantage chances.
Notes:
Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer’s illustrious 31-year career as a collegiate head coach came to a close tonight. Sauer, who coached Wisconsin for 20 years, coached his final game, ironically enough, in St. Paul, the town he grew up in and against his alma mater, Colorado College, a team he guided for 11 seasons
The arena scoreboard froze with 6:37 to play in the third period and was inoperable the remainder of regulation. It was fixed for the overtime period.
Former WCHA standouts Ron Grahame (Denver, goaltender) and Keith Magnusson (Denver, defenseman) dropped the ceremonial opening pucks. Both are members of the WCHA Top 50 Players in 50 Years Team that was announced in conjunction with the league’s 50th anniversary this season.
— compiled from staff reports