The Wisconsin men’s hockey team earned its first road sweep since 2001 with a pair of victories over Michigan Tech this weekend.
Three players scored their first career goals and a fourth earned his first career point as the Badgers won 9-4 at Michigan Tech Friday night.
Ryan MacMurchy, who now has seven points in his last two games, opened the scoring 1:58 into the game by slamming home the rebound of a Rene Bourque shot.
Freshman Andrew Joudrey added to the lead at 10:21 with his fourth tally of the season. Bourque got his second assist of the game on the goal, while Ryan Suter also picked up an assist on the play.
Andy Wozniewski’s point shot beat screened MTU goaltender Bryce Luker, with help from MacMurchy and Jake Dowell, to give the Badgers their first three-goal period of the season. The goal at 13:06 wouldn’t be the last of the stanza.
A trio of rookies, Dowell, Robbie Earl, and Andy Brandt combined for UW’s fourth score at 15:01 of the period. The assist for Brandt was his first career point.
With the clock at 18:18 of the first period, the biggest goal of the night came off the stick of senior defenseman Jon Krall. Playing in his 96th career game, the blue liner skated down the left boards and fired a slapper to the short-side upper corner, beating Luker. The eventual game-winning goal was also the first of Krall’s career.
Krall’s goal chased Luker from the nets as Cam Ellsworth took the ice in goal for the second period. But sophomore Adam Burish welcomed the newcomer while also getting off the career snide early in the period. At 3:04, the forward skated out from behind the net to the high slot, spun, and wristed in his first career goal. The score stopped a 25-game career goal-scoring drought.
The Badgers went up 6-0 with the goal, but the Huskies clawed their way back into the contest over the next 25 minutes of play. A pair of power-play goals midway through the second period made it a 6-2 game, while a goal from the nation’s leading rookie scorer Taggart Desmet closed the game to 6-3 at 16:25.
Chris Conner, the nation’s overall scoring leader, knocked in his 12th of the season at 7:20 of the third period to bring the Huskies within two.
The Badgers responded with the final three goals of the contest to give the UW its first WCHA victory of the season. MacMurchy took a one-handed feed from Mark Heatley and put home his fourth of the season at 9:25 to stop the comeback bid.
Then Heatley notched his first career goal, finishing during a delayed penalty call, after the rookie was tripped up on his way to a near breakaway.
Nick Licari closed out the scoring, converting his own rebound at 18:24. A.J. Degenhardt and Burish, who completed his first three-point game, earned assists on the play.
Bernd Brückler stopped 22 shots to improve to 3-3-0. Luker absorbed the loss, allowing five goals on nine shots during the first period.
UW finished off the sweep Saturday night with a 5-2 win over the Huskies.
Tech’s Nick Anderson would be the first to put his team on the scoreboard, sliding one past UW netminder Bernd Bruckler near the 13-minute mark. He was assisted by Brandon Schwartz and Jon Pittis.
The second period saw a lot more pressure near the nets and Wisconsin took advantage. A.J. Degenhardt would tie the game, giving UW its first tally of the night with help from Nick Licari and Jeff Likens. Two minutes later, sophomore Ryan MacMurchy put in his fifth goal of the season and third of the series with assists from Andrew Joudrey and Rene Bourque. MacMurchey leads the Badgers in goals and points for the season.
Rallying back for MTU was John Scott who tied the game at 2-2 only a minute later near the nine-minute mark of the second. Wisconsin would answer back with only two seconds left in the period. Tom Sawatske slipped one past Tech goalie Cam Ellsworth on a Wisconsin power play to tally his first collegiate score and the game-winning goal. Sawatske was assisted by Jake Dowell and Bourque, who tallied his seventh assist of the season.
The Badgers dominated the third period, solidifying the lead by scoring two more goals. Robbie Earl got the action started near the four-minute mark by scoring UW’s fourth goal of the night on an assist from Ryan Suter. Polishing off the lead was freshman Andy Brandt, scoring his first career goal at 13:38 in the third with help from Earl and Dowell.
-compiled from staff reports
