BOSTON, Mass. — Wisconsin scored four times in the first 16 minutes of play to upend Northeastern 5-1 in non-conference action at Matthews Arena. Wisconsin went three for three on the power play in the victory and improved to 4-2-0 while the Huskies dropped to 1-2-2.
Wisconsin freshman Nick Licari began the scoring barrage for the Badgers. Pete Talafous dished it to Licari, who was left uncovered on the far post and beat Mike Gilhoolty at 6:28.
Just over two minutes later, Rene Bourque scored the game-winner and the first power-play goal of the night to place the score at 2-0. He took a pass from Tom Gilbert and sent the puck upstairs over Gilhooly’s guard and into the goal at 8:37.
The Badgers continued to find chances in the first period. At 13:47, Joe Simon netted a goal, finding a hole on Gilhooly’s left with assists from Brent Gibson and A.J. Degenhardt. The goal was Simon’s first as a Badger.
The Badgers made it 4-0 as Senior Brad Winchester scored just seconds into a power play at 15:31. Brian Fahey and Tom Sawatske assisted on the play. Northeastern replaced goaltender Gilhooly with Sophomore Keni Gibson, but returned Gilhooly to goal at the start of the third period.
Bourque made the score 5-0 at 7:38 in the second period taking a pass from Alex Leavitt and nudging the puck past Gibson for his second goal of the game. The goal was UW’s third power-play goal of the night.
NU got on the board in the third period as Eric Ortlip took a feed from Scott Selig and sent the puck into the net. Bernd Bruckler nearly saved it, but the puck went off his glove and the score went to 5-1. Bruckler stopped 37 shots in the game.
Badgers Lose to No. 4 Eagles
BOSTON, Mass. — Wisconsin (3-2-0 overall, 0-0-0 WCHA) took on the fourth-ranked Boston College (4-0-0 overall, 0-0-0 HEA) last Friday night in its first road game of the season. It was the second game this season against a ranked opponent for Bucky since beating 12th-ranked Northern Michigan Oct. 12 with a final score of 4-3. The Eagles struck quickly, tallying twice in the opening four minutes of the game.
UW was forced to make two goaltending changes in the first 4:06 of the game, as senior Scott Kabotoff was pulled at 3:45 after yielding two full-strength goals at the 1:46 and 3:45 marks. Sophomore Bernd Bruckler was in net just 44 seconds before the home team extended its lead to three goals. The goal was a rebound tally which beat Bruckler high. Kabotoff went back in net at the 4:29 mark.
Leading 3-1, the Eagles weren’t finished as rookie Patrick Eaves, son of UW coach Mike Eaves, scored his second of the night and sixth of the season. The Badgers were outshot 14-4 and trailed 4-1 after the first period. It was the fewest shots on goal in a period for the UW since a 3-2 loss to Denver Feb. 16, 2002
A pair of UW rookies teamed up for the Badgers’ first score as A.J. Degenhardt notched his first goal as a Badger, beating BC netminder Matti Kaltianien gloveside. Classmate and defenseman Tom Gilbert assisted on the play, his fourth of the year.
The Badgers settled down in the second as Kabotoff stopped all 11 of BC’s shots, including three Eagle power-play opportunities. After the 7:57 mark of the first period, the UW defense held BC scoreless and 0-3 on the man advantage.
Senior Brad Winchester netted his third goal in five games, a four-on-four conversion, with 2:46 left in the game. That ended the scoring for the night, with BC winning 4-2 and improving to 4-0. The Badgers fell to 3-2-0 and play their second Hockey East member in as many nights Saturday vs. Northeastern.
–compiled from staff reports
