The funk is over.

Wisconsin (7-6-1, 4-4 WCHA) finally broke through with a pair of
victories following a five-game winless stretch. It did so in
come-from-behind fashion against St. Cloud State (7-5-2, 3-4-1),
taking Friday night's game 3-2 and winning 4-3 Saturday.

"It shows that we're making that step to mature as a group and
we're coming together as a team," UW freshman Kyle Turris said.
"I think coming out like we did tonight and the weekend as a whole
was a big step, and finishing it how we did was huge."

Senior forward Josh Engel scored two goals in a game for the first
time in his career and Turris ended a drought of his own, nine games
without a goal, in Wisconsin's win Saturday.

"We're not stuck in a corner anymore. We got a few big points
this weekend to move us up in the WCHA standings," UW goaltender
Shane Connelly said. "It's just really great considering what we
went through the past few weeks."

The Badgers wasted little time getting on the board as freshman
Patrick Johnson flipped a backhander past the Huskies' Jase
Weslosky a minute into the game — the start they were looking for.

"It gave the bench energy, and we built off of that, and it just
motivates every shift after that," Turris said of the early goal.

Wisconsin controlled the puck until Johnson was called for
interference, putting the potent St. Cloud State power play out on
the ice at 9:42. The trio of Garrett Roe, Ryan Lasch and Andreas Nodl
hooked up for the second time in the series on the man-advantage as
Nodl went top shelf to tie the score at 1-1.

Less than two minutes into the second period, Wisconsin regained
the lead when Engel beat Weslosky on a rebound from the left crease.
But St. Cloud State responded with two goals of its own later in the
period, getting goals from Aaron Marvin, the first of his career, and
Lasch.

Not to be outdone, the Badgers responded with a goal off the stick
of Turris from just outside the left faceoff circle. The shot was set
up by a nice feed from Aaron Bendickson.

"It was one of those games where we had the reins for a while
and they took them away from us in the second period and we took them
back," Eaves said.

Late in the period with the game still tied 3-3, Blake Geoffrion
beat his man skating down the middle of the ice and flicked a shot
from left side of the net. While Weslosky made the initial save, his
momentum carried him out of the net, and the puck ricocheted to Engel
at the top of the crease who put it home for the game-winning goal.

"I'm just trying to keep it simple and go to the net to try
and get those rebound goals," Engel said of his performance. "My
job out there is to be a physical presence and just try to find spots
to cause trouble.

"I'm just really happy I was able to help the team out tonight
and score two goals."

The win was particularly gratifying because Wisconsin never gave
up, despite being down entering the third period for the second
consecutive night.

"A lot of times entering a six-period weekend, it comes down to
will; our will versus theirs. … And to come through in the third
period, the sixth period of the weekend like we did is a big
accomplishment," Eaves said.

Friday night, it took some time for the Badgers to find the
resiliency and energy they showed later in the series. UW came out
torpid in the first period, and it paid with a 2-0 deficit on goals
from Roe and Matt Hartman (a short-handed score).

"We come out in the first period, and it was like we were
skating in quicksand," Eaves said.

While Connelly looked flustered early, he calmed down and kept
Wisconsin in the game.

"The most impressive thing about this whole ordeal is Shane
righted the ship, settled down at the end of the game, and he ended
up getting the game puck because he made some big saves at the end,"
Eaves said. "That just shows his maturity as a goaltender to settle
down and get it done."

After a motivating speech from Eaves during the first intermission
telling his players that they need to take charge of the bench and
the team, Wisconsin came out flying.

"Eaves laid into us pretty good," Street said. "We needed a
sense of urgency; we were kind of lacking that early on and guys were
sitting down on the bench, not talking. He came in and his emotion
wore off of us and kickstarted us from there."

Ben Grotting found a streaking John Mitchell in the slot for a
one-timer to bring the Badgers within one early in the second period.
From there, UW took it to SCSU.

Geoffrion notched the equalizer on an awkward shot from the blue
line, where he pulled up and took a spill. Ben Street followed with
the final goal of the night by redirecting a Turris shot from the
right side with his stick and throwing Weslosky out of position.

"It was a pretty fortunate play," Street said. "I had an
idea when he shot it that the goalie would probably be moving
side-to-side so I thought, maybe if I get a stick on it I can get
lucky, and that's exactly what happened."