Wisconsin men’s hockey fell to No. 13 Maine in the championship game of the Maverick Stampede Saturday at the Qwest Center of Omaha.
After allowing a quick goal to start the game against Nebraska-Omaha, the Badgers fell behind at 3:54 to the Black Bears. Maine’s Greg Moore capitalized on the first power play of the game to make it a 1-0 game.
Prestin Ryan made it 2-0 for the Black Bears with .4 seconds remaining in the first period. Streaking down the left side, Ryan fired a shot past goaltender Bernd Brückler for the second score.
All-tournament defender Tom Gilbert cut that lead in half during a Badger five-on-three power play at 2:33 of the second stanza. Ryan MacMurchy fed Gilbert in front of the Maine goal for the one-timer. Freshman Andrew Joudrey earned the second assist.
Just 13 seconds later, however, Maine regained its two-goal margin when tournament MVP Todd Jackson tallied an unassisted short-handed goal for a 3-1 lead.
The Black Bears added to their lead at 13:47 on a Tom Zabkowicz slap shot to finish off a two-on-one, but Wisconsin responded just over two minutes later. Freshman Ken Rowe knocked home a rebound of a Gilbert shot, with help from rookie Jake Dowell at 15:58.
Jackson struck again for Maine, this time on the power play, with a goal at 17:46 of the second for a 5-2 Maine edge. The Black Bears closed out the scoring at 39 seconds of the final period, scoring their third power-play goal in five tries when Dustin Penner notched the sixth goal for Maine.
Brückler made 26 saves in the game but dropped his first decision of the season in falling to 1-1-0. Maine’s Frank Doyle also collected 26 stops but earned his first win of the season.
Wisconsin spoiled Nebraska-Omaha’s first game in its new building with a 4-3 overtime victory Friday to advance to the championship game of the Maverick Stampede.
Senior Dan Boeser took sophomore Ryan MacMurchy’s pass through the top of the left circle and ripped a shot to the far upper corner at 7:47 of overtime to clinch the win. The goal snapped a 42-game scoreless drought for the defenseman and gave the Badgers a 1-0-0 mark to open the season.
The game didn’t start the Badgers’ way, however, as UNO jumped out to an early lead. Playing on the emotion of their first regular-season game in the new Qwest Center Omaha, the host Mavericks struck 21 seconds into the contest. UNO forced a Badger turnover deep in the UW end. Andrew Wong got to the loose puck for the Mavericks and fed teammate Alex Nikiforuk to the right of junior Brückler for the one-timer goal.
Wisconsin recovered quickly, rallying 30 seconds later when sophomore Adam Burish cycled the puck behind the UNO goal to fellow sophomore Nick Licari. Licari fed A.J. Degenhardt to the right of UNO netminder Brian Haaland, who then found room over the goaltender’s shoulder to even the game.
Special teams were key in the second period, but neither team was able to capitalize. UNO had a pair of five-on-three advantages including 43-second and 95-second stretches, but UW held. Wisconsin had three power-play chances of its own in the period, failing on each of its opportunities.
Mike Gabinet of UNO was called for a double minor at 20 minutes of the second period, giving UW a four-minute power play to open the final stanza. The Badgers took advantage at 3:17 when freshman Robbie Earl knocked home freshman Jeff Likens’ rebound for his first career score. Rookie Andrew Joudrey got the second assist.
Like the Badgers did in the first period, the Mavericks recovered quickly with a goal at 4:37. Scott Parse skated down the right wing and slapped a shot over Brückler’s shoulder for the equalizer.
Joudrey gave the Badgers the lead again at 9:57, one-timing a centering pass from Earl. The UW got a fortunate bounce on the play when a UNO defenseman’s pass hit the referee’s skate and caromed to Earl behind the goal, but the Mavericks got a late power play with less than three minutes to play and Micah Sanford batted a rebound out of the air and past Brückler to make it a 3-3 contest and send the teams to overtime.
Each team traded scoring chances in the overtime before Boeser’s goal won the game. Wisconsin’s Burish hit the pipe with a wrist shot just past the four-minute mark, and UNO posted a couple of shot flurries of its own that Brückler and the Badgers turned away.
The junior goalie stopped 31 shots for the season’s first victory.
