MILWAUKEE, Wis.—The Badger men's hockey team is one step closer to a national title after defeating the Maine Black Bears last night 5-2 at the Frozen Four in Milwaukee.
One more left,\ senior forward and captain Adam Burish said. ""We didn't come here to see Miller Park and the Miller Brewing Company. We came here to win a championship.""
The Badgers got on the board first when a broken play in the Maine zone resulted in a two-on-one for Burish and sophomore center Joe Pavelski. After a blocked centering attempt, Burish sent the puck in front and it skipped into the net off a Maine defender.
Maine struck back later in the first when junior winger Keith Johnson used Wisconsin junior defenseman Matt Olinger as a screen on a wrist shot. Johnson's shot deflected off Olinger's skate and through screened Elliot's five-hole.
Junior forward Ross Carlson single-handedly regained the lead for the Badgers when he blocked a pass on the penalty kill and raced toward the Maine zone toe-to-toe with a Maine defender. After making a move to beat the defender, Carlson shot a quick slap shot between the long legs of 6'7"" goaltender Ben Bishop.
""It meant a lot to our team to get that short handed goal and just keep rolling,"" Carlson said.
Minutes later, junior winger Robbie Earl and Burish found themselves with a two-on-one on the power play. Earl kept the puck and beat Bishop with a wrist shot past his far-side leg.
Maine cut the lead to one in the third period when junior defenseman Mike Lundin took a pass on an odd-man rush and snuck a shot through traffic to beat Elliot over his glove side.
But the Badgers answered quickly. Just 57 seconds later, freshman winger Ben Street and Carlson skated in on a two-on-one. After a couple deflected pucks, Street ended up with it and shot it into a wide open net. Carlson and freshman forward Jack Skille earned assists on the goal.
""I was just spinning like a little top and then accidentally hit the puck and it went to Ben and he got it so it worked out,"" Carlson said.
Earl capped off the evening with an empty-net goal with just under two minutes remaining in the game.
""I just did my part,"" Earl said. ""It's my job to put up the numbers and do my job offensively, and I thought I did that tonight.""
The Badgers will face the Boston College Golden Eagles 6 p.m. Saturday night for the national championship in Milwaukee.
The Eagles snuck past North Dakota with a 6-5 victory Thursday afternoon. BC jumped out to an early lead, scoring three goals on their first five shots.
North Dakota cut the score to 3-2 in the second period, but the period ended at 5-2 after Hobey Baker finalist Chris Collins buried his third goal of the evening for Boston College.
The score sat at 6-4 when North Dakota scored another goal with under 20 seconds to play, but the game would end at 6-5 as the comeback effort by the Sioux fell just short.
Saturday will be a match-up of the defensive-oriented Badgers who have given up just two goals in the NCAA tournament and the Eagles, who have scored 16 goals in the tournament.
""Both [teams] are well coached, both have tremendous goaltending, both have talented people,"" Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said:""The ultimate winner Saturday night is going to be men's college hockey because they're gonna be treated to a terrific game.""
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