The Wisconsin men’s hockey team concluded the worst season in school history with a pair of hard fought one-goal losses in the WCHA playoffs Mar. 14 and 15.
Mistakes and inattention to detail that have haunted the eighth-seeded Badgers (13-23-4) throughout the year continued to do so, causing UW, which had multiple opportunities to steal the series, fall in their bid for an upset of third-seeded Minnesota State.
The Badgers and Mavericks (20-8-10), who went into overtime in both regular-season contests, used extra periods once again. MSU took the series opener 2-1 and then advanced in to the WCHA’s Frozen Five with a 6-5 come-from-behind double-overtime victory. Attention to minute detail separated UW from MSU.
“This is tough,” said senior Brian Fahey. “We played some good hockey, but this is how things go. It’s tough that it came down like this; it could have gone either way.”
The opener witnessed UW go pound-for-pound against arguably one of the hottest teams in the nation in the Mavericks, but the Badgers came up short in the 2-1 loss. After Minnesota State’s Grant Stevenson bagged the game’s first goal, a soft one to say the least, at the 1:18 mark of the first period, Badger goalie Bernd Bruckler responded with numerous acrobatic saves that kept UW alive. Seven minutes later, Fahey, with only four goals on the season, easily notched his most important score of the year, knotting the game at one apiece in the first period.
Tied heading into the second, Wisconsin used a suffocating defense to fend off two MSU power plays and managed to out-shoot the Mavericks 12-9. The Badgers, with momentum on their side, were unable to break the stalemate.
As tensions heightened and dramatics seemed inevitable, the Badgers had three golden opportunities to take the lead. Jake Heisler, Mark Jackson and Rene Bourque all had their attempts foiled. Heisler had his shot miraculously nabbed by MSU goalie Jon Volp. Jackson simply overshot a wide-open net, and Bourque had his breakaway stymied.
Instead, the dramatics were saved for MSU freshman Brock Becker. Becker converted the game-winner as he redirected the puck past Bruckler at the 12:25 mark of the third period, giving MSU the 1-0 series lead.
Wisconsin, in a do-or-die situation, came out the next night with an explosive offensive display. The game was two minutes old when UW’s freshman Brent Gibson snagged an attempted clearing of the ice by Minnesota State and slid it by Maverick goalie Jason Jensen for the 1-0 lead.
Two consecutive scores from MSU’s Brad Thompson and Joe Bourne put the Mavericks on top. However, the Badgers mustered as refute 20 seconds later from a Heilser upper-shelf goal, ending the first period tied at two.
Gibson scored once again, his first multiple-goal game of his career, to regain the UW lead at the beginning of the second period. Bourque, UW’s leading scorer, finally broke through by sending the puck into the slot, which found Jensen’s skate, and into the goal. The score padded the UW lead to 4-2 and caused MSU to substitute Jensen for Volp between the pipes.
MSU, however, was not about to concede. In the third Dana Sorenson capitalized on a rebound left out in front by UW’s senior net minder Scott Kabotoff. With the Badgers only seconds away from forcing a deciding third game, Minnesota State emptied their net and sent a sixth skater on to the ice during the last minute. This allowed B.J. Abel to register the equalizer with a mere 11 seconds remaining, putting the game into an extra stanza.
Kabotoff and UW responded to the adversity well. The UW defense fended off two more MSU power plays and Kabotoff made an amazing 15 saves to keep the Badgers knotted with the Mavericks at 5, making an additional session necessary.
The second overtime wouldn’t be as kind to UW. Grant Stevenson gave Minnesota State the win just 14 seconds into the period by beating Kabotoff on the third MSU power play of overtime, for a final tally of 6-5.
“When you come down to the playoffs, details are what get it done,” head coach Mike Eaves said. “We fell short in a couple areas, and it hurt us and cost us in a couple areas.
“It’s been that way much of the year — just the little details, the little things that win games and lose games. When we were up, we didn’t take care of some of the details.”
