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[/media-credit]The University of Wisconsin enjoyed great success on the national stage in 2006, as UW hockey captured a pair of NCAA titles while the men's cross country team took home second place in the national tournament.
On Apr. 8, 2006, Wisconsin officially became "the state of hockey." Almost two weeks after the women's hockey team defeated archrival Minnesota in the Frozen Four national championship game, the men's squad knocked off Boston College to capture its sixth championship in program history.
The victories made Wisconsin the first Division I program ever to win both the men's and women's Frozen Four in the same year.
In the quarterfinals, the men's squad defeated Cornell in a game for the ages. UW forward Jack Skille netted a triple-overtime game winner, scoring the game's only goal after 111:13 of scoreless hockey.
In the championship game, the Badgers, led by head coach Mike Eaves, defeated the Boston College Eagles 2-1 in front of a partisan crowd at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Tom Gilbert scored his 12th goal of the season and the most significant of his illustrious UW career, giving the Badgers a one-goal lead with just over 10 minutes remaining. As time expired, a BC shot rang off the post just as the horn blew, signifying Wisconsin's capture of the 2006 national championship.
For the seniors, it was especially gratifying.
"It's a storybook ending and a Cinderella story," said senior forward Ryan MacMurchy following the championship game. "We hadn't won anything our whole four years. It was everything it lived up to be in our dreams, and we got it done with blood, sweat and tears."
Mark Johnson and the women's team began the season as the top-ranked team in the country and that's exactly how they finished it. It was a dream season for the Badger women, as they won their first championship in the program's history. Along the way, Wisconsin won its first WCHA regular season and playoff championships.
Post-season awards reflected the Badgers' exceptional run, as UW forward Sara Bauer became the first Badger ever to win the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the nation's best player. Johnson was recognized by his peers as the AHCA Division I Coach of the Year.
In the NCAA tournament, freshman goaltender Jessie Vetter became the first netminder to record a shutout in women's Frozen Four history, blanking St. Lawrence 1-0 in the semifinals. Two days later, Vetter and the Badgers defeated Minnesota 3-0 in the championship game in a Border Battle of epic proportions.
"I don't know how we define destiny or if you believe in destiny … but things seemed to line up pretty nice for us last year," Eaves said of the hockey program's dream season.
"I'm not sure if you were writing a script for Hollywood or making a movie that you'd even think of that," Johnson said.
The men's cross-country team made it three national titles for the Badgers in the 2005-06 school year. While it may not have reached the top of the mountain in the fall of 2006, the Big Ten's premier squad still solidified its reputation as a national powerhouse.
The Badgers entered the '06 tournament as the resounding favorite, but Wisconsin scored 142 points to finish 48 points behind champion Colorado at the muddy LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
Despite the somewhat disappointing finish, Wisconsin did capture its eighth consecutive Big Ten Championship by the third-largest margin in conference history. UW tied its own conference mark for consecutive titles previously set between 1985 and 1992.
