The Wisconsin men’s hockey team missed its chance to sweep its first conference series of the season this past weekend. A school-record fifth-consecutive overtime resulted in a 2-1 victory in the opening game Friday against Minnesota-Duluth, creating the possibility for a utopian weekend.
However, the Badgers (8-13-3 overall, 2-9-3 WCHA) saw the Bulldogs respond Saturday. In the 6-2 win for UMD (10-8-4, 6-5-3), the team exploited UW errors and took an early lead that was not relinquished as the game wore on.
Friday night, senior goalkeeper Scott Kabotoff notched his first conference victory of the season, thanks in large part to his performance between the pipes. Kabotoff stopped 30 of 31 UMD shots including all 17 in a defensively nightmarish third period. With just over seven minutes remaining in the third period and the score tied, head coach Mike Eaves called his lone timeout of the game.
“We’re riding Kabby’s back right now, and he’s getting tired,” Eaves informed his players in the huddle. “We’ve got to step up here.”
The Badgers countered indeed. Wing Rene Bourque, who entered the game having scored a goal in each of the last five games, settled for the game-winning assist instead. After Bourque created a turnover, he fired the puck up to sophomore Alex Leavitt. Leavitt then made the first of two moves by faking a slap shot to draw the goalie out of position and then sliding the puck across ice to newly named team captain Brad Winchester. A wide-open Winchester, who tallied just his sixth goal of the year, simply one-timed it home for the victory.
“It’s been tough,” Winchester, who led the Badgers in scoring just a year ago, said. “But it would [be tougher] if I wasn’t doing anything out there and not making anything happen.”
Saturday night was a different story for the Badgers. Eaves broke form, opting to start Kabotoff for the second consecutive night instead of switching to Bernd Bruckler. An early first-period turnover by UW in their zone allowed for UMD to rush Kabotoff before Jon Francisco put the rebound home. Tim Stapleton made it 2-0 with his even-strength goal with three minutes left in the first.
UW responded in the second with a barrage of shots, none of which solved UMD net minder Isaac Reichmuth. The Bulldogs scored the game-winner on a power-play goal by Marco Peluso for a 3-0 lead. The Badger power play went 0-5 for the night. A late second-period goal by Leavitt, his second of the season, provided hope for a UW comeback as the third period arrived.
UMD’s Ryan Geris ended what hope there was with two third-period goals, and Francisco added his second goal of the game to make it 6-1.
The lone bright spot of the game saw UW’s John Funk bag the first shorthanded goal of the season for the Badgers.
The game turned even more grisly in the third when a rash of penalties were handed out. UW broke its own record by receiving 74 minutes of sin-bin time throughout the game.
The Badgers face WCHA and national power Colorado College this upcoming weekend in Colorado Springs.
