The Wisconsin men's hockey team took a break from conference play last weekend with hopes of starting another winning streak. However, a lack of goals and penalty killing only allowed the Badgers to salvage one point against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a 2-2 tie Saturday night and a 3-1 loss Sunday night.
On Saturday, it was a tale of two scorers as Badger senior forward John Eichelberger and Fighting Irish senior center Aaron Gill had two goals apiece. Both teams featured very balanced offenses, as neither player scored an even-strength goal; all four were scored on the power play. Badger Head Coach Mike Eaves praised the team's effort but was unsatisfied with the result.
\It didn't feel as good inside because we had such high expectations,"" Eaves said. ""We felt the chances were in our favor, but we just didn't put the puck in the net.""
The scoring started early in the first period when Eichelberger knocked home a loose rebound in the crease for his first goal of the season. The scoring remained the same until the end of the period, when Gill fought a puck into the net from under Badger junior goaltender Bernd Br??ckler for his seventh goal of the year.
The Badgers took the lead again in the second period when Eichelberger scored off another loose puck for his second goal of the night.
""Every time you get some goals like that, it gives you a lot of confidence,"" Eichelberger said.
The lead lasted until the start of the third period when Wisconsin's sixth penalty of the night led to another Gill power-play goal. Both teams had chances to escape the game with a win, but neither team could capitalize and the tie proved to be the final score.
The Badgers showed promise in Sunday night's game as they once again scored the first goal of the game. Eichelberger intercepted a Notre Dame clearing attempt in the Badgers' offensive zone and passed it ahead to Badger senior left winger Rene Bourque to open the scoring in the game. Eichelberger's assist on the play gave him his third point of the weekend, however, that goal proved to be all the offense that Wisconsin could muster.
Despite a 13-2 shot advantage for UW in the first period, the undaunted Fighting Irish came right back and tied the game in the second period off sophomore left wing Mike Walsh's breakaway goal against Badger freshman netminder Brian Elliott, who was starting just his fifth game of the season. Irish senior right wing Rob Globke added a second goal in the period on a five-on-three Notre Dame power play.
Wisconsin tried replacing Elliott with Br??ckler at goaltender to provide a spark, but the move did not pay off. Globke added an empty net goal for his second goal and fourth point of the weekend and the Fighting Irish left Madison with a 3-1 victory.
Notre Dame's goalies were the most integral reason in stopping the Badgers last weekend. With junior goaltender Morgan Cey notching 36 saves Saturday night and freshman netminder David Brown adding 30 Sunday, Notre Dame's goalies thoroughly controlled the Badgers' offense.
""If we had scored a couple more goals, we'd be all smiles,"" Eaves said. ""But you run through these times in the season. This is a storm for us. We have to look forward to coming back to practice and getting ready for [Colorado College].""
Badgers' senior defenseman Dan Boeser agrees with his coach.
""Like Coach [Eaves] said, we're in a bit of a slump right now,"" Boeser said, ""but if we keep our heads high and get back to work in practice, we're going to be successful.\
