The University of Wisconsin Badgers men's hockey team (12-13-3 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 16-18-4 overall) used this weekend's series to confirm its travel plans. It is are bound for St. Paul, Minn., and the Frozen Five next weekend after sweeping Minnesota State-Mankato (11-15-2, 16-20-2).
Wisconsin played with moxie and gusto in the last home series for Head Coach Jeff Sauer and the nine seniors. It took an overtime session to decide the outcome on Friday night, with Wisconsin taking the win 3-2. Saturday night, theBadgers left no doubt in anyone's mind as to who was the superior team, brutalizing the Mavericks 7-3.
MSU-Mankato took an early lead Friday night, on a soft goal against junior goalie Scott Kabotoff. Wisconsin evened up the scoring midway through the second period on a goal by sophomore forward John Eichelberger. Junior forward Eric Jensen assisted on the goal. Late in the second period UW took its first lead of the night with a goal by senior forward Matt Hussey.
Mankato refused to die, however, and tied the game up 2-2 late in the third period off a faceoff in front of Kabotoff
Heading into overtime the Mavericks had the momentum, but UW survived some early overtime jitters, and'at 7:06 into overtime'senior center Matt Murray scored the game winner. It has become almost habit for Murray to score at the Kohl Center; the goal was his 11th in the past 10 home games. However, there was some controversy over whether the goal counted.
From the replay it appeared that the Mankato goalie caught the puck before it went over the goal line. However, the red light was already on and the goal judge had returned his verdict
When asked about the goal ruling after the game, Sauer commented, \The goal judge said it was absolutely a goal. I heard the puck hit the pipe, and when that happens, it usually means something good has happened.
Murray put the goal into simpler terms: ""The goal was not a gift; it's just about time that we got a break.""
Saturday night the Badgers made sure that a ""phantom goal"" would not decide the series. Instead Wisconsin came out and played its best game of the year.
""My only concern for Saturday night is intensity. We have to come out and play hard from the start,"" Sauer said when asked about worries for Saturday night.
UW did exactly that, scoring early with freshman forward Alex Leavitt schooling MSU goaltender Jason Jensen. Senior forward Matt Doman made it 2-0 at 14:27 in the first period, and MSU-Mankato scored late in the first, making it 2-1.
Wisconsin took it to 11 in the second period, scoring three goals in the period and making it 5-2 heading into the third. Junior defenseman Brian Fahey, Hussey and sophomore forward Rene Borque all scored in the period.
For Mankato, Jerry Cunningham notched his second goal of the contest.
In the third period Hussey notched his 18th goal of the year. Also in the third, senior forward David Hukalo scored his 5th goal of the year, going the length of the ice unassisted and blowing past MSU backup goalie freshman Jon Volp.
The Badgers now head to St. Paul to face off against Colorado College, the same team Sauer began his coaching career with 30 years ago.
In other action, the women's hockey team (17-6-1, 22-11-2) advanced to their first Final Five Championships this weekend after defeating Minnesota-Duluth (16-5-3 WCHA, 22-6-4 overall) 4-1 Friday.
Sophomore forwards Karen Rickard and Meghan Hunter, junior defender Sis Paulsen and freshman forward Jackie Friesen all scored for the Badgers as they defeated the defending champions for the third consecutive time.
However, the team was not as successful in the Championship round as they fell to No. 1 Minnesota (19-2-3 WCHA, 28-3-5 overall) Saturday, 3-2. Junior goaltender Jackie MacMillan, who had 22 saves against the Bulldogs the previous game, racked up 17 saves against the Golden Gophers and junior defender Kerry Weiland had two goals. The Badgers finished second in both the WCHA and at the Final Five.
