The Badger men's hockey team went into this weekend's matchup against No. 1 powerhouse Denver University (19-4-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 26-5-1 overall) with an optimistic attitude. In order to solidify home ice for the WCHA playoffs, the fifth-place Badgers (10-11-3 WCHA, 12-16-4 overall) needed to avoid a series sweep by the Denver Pioneers in Madison.
Friday, UW jumped out to a 2-1 lead with goals from senior forwards Dave Hergert and Matt Murray. However, it was paradise city for Denver after that as Pioneer senior Chris Paradise rallied his team back by knocking in two goals past freshman goaltender Bernd Bruckler in the second period to halt the Badgers' hopes of maintaining an early lead. Paradise led his team to victory as Denver came out on top, 5-2 over the Badgers.
UW senior forward Matt Doman said the cause of the team's collapse was the lack of leadership from the seniors.
\When the guys that are supposed to be leading the team are part of the problem, well, that makes it tough to win,"" Doman said.
Saturday, the Badgers looked for motivation from junior goalie Scott Kabotoff as he returned to the starting lineup for the first time since his injury Jan. 25 against St. Cloud State. In his first game back, Kabotoff looked impressive, tallying 30 saves. Despite his efforts, Denver skated past the Badgers in a controversial 3-2 win Saturday.
With the game tied at 2-2 and under a minute to go in the game, Referee Robin Anderson failed to acknowledge what fans and players considered icing by Denver. Just seconds later, Anderson subsequently made an icing call on the Badgers in what seemed like an identical play.
""We're going to get a call from the commissioner, and he's going to tell me that it was icing. The puck shouldn't have been there in the first place,"" UW Head Coach Jeff Sauer said.
The icing by the Badgers forced a face off deep in their own zone with 10 seconds left. Denver won the face-off and junior forward Greg Barber took control of the puck thereafter, shooting the puck past Kabotoff with only seven seconds left, propelling the Pioneers to a 3-2 victory.
""I thought we deserved to win. We did everything we needed to do to win the hockey game,"" Sauer said.
UW, still in fifth place in the WCHA standings, prepares to travel to Minneapolis next Friday where they will face the third-place University of Minnesota squad.
Senior forward Andy Wheeler is looking forward to the match up against the Gophers.
""It's pretty hard not to show up and play in front of 10,000 people who hate you,"" Wheeler said.
