In a season opening two games in Dayton, Ohio, the Wisconsin Badger men's hockey team showed the potential upside and downfall of its young team.
The Badgers defeated No. 8 Notre Dame in Friday's game, 4-1, then fell, 5-3, to Ohio State in the championship match of the Lefty McFadden Tournament.
By scoring a total of seven goals in the tournament, the Badgers at least temporarily allayed concerns that goals will be hard to come by this year. UW's 2007 season is now under way without four of the team's top five scorers from last year.
We got a little bit of both worlds,"" junior goaltender Shane Connelly said after the Badgers came back from a 3-1 deficit against OSU, only to lose. ""We were dominating at times and then other times we got dominated.""
Friday night, the Badgers got goals from not only four different lines, but also from four different players scoring their first collegiate goals. Senior defenseman Josh Engel, sophomore forward Aaron Bendickson, and freshmen forwards Sean Dolan and Kyle Turris contributed to a win over the highly talented Irish.
""It was really fun to watch,"" said head coach Mike Eaves, beginning his sixth season with the Badgers.
Engel put the Badgers on top in the first period on a one-timer, but the Irish tied the score in the second. It was not until the 11th minute of the third period that UW reclaimed the lead on Bendickson's backhander. Dolan's rebounder two minutes later gave UW a two-goal lead.
In the 19th minute, Turris, the third overall pick of the NHL Entry Draft, got his first goal as a Badger. ""We took four pucks off the ice"" as mementos of the first goals, Turris said. ""It was pretty neat.""
The win Friday night gave the Badgers an opportunity to face off in the first-place game against Ohio State, who defeated Mercyhurst later in the evening. UW had never lost against Ohio State in 10 meetings entering play, but that streak abruptly ended Saturday.
The Buckeyes had a 2-0 advantage not even four minutes into the game. But just before nine minutes had elapsed, sophomore defensman Jamie McBain scored from 25 feet out to cut the lead to 2-1.
OSU made it 3-1 late in the first period, yet the Badgers weren't finished. Junior forward Ben Street, an assistant captain this season, scored late on Turris's second assist of the game, and UW entered the break trailing, 3-2.
At 2:20 of the second period, Turris tied the score with his second goal in as many games, but before the frame ended, OSU had a 4-3 lead. Six minutes into the third period, the No. 19 Buckeyes scored the final goal of the game.
After contrasting results to begin the season, Eaves, the head coach, said the swing in performance for the Badgers was to be expected.
""The exciting thing,"" Eaves said, ""is there's lots to work with there and we just go back to the drawing board.""
The Wisconsin State Journal and uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
