Two poorly executed plays spelled disaster for the No. 13 Wisconsin men's hockey team, who lost to No. 4 Colorado College 2-0 Friday at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers (4-6-1 WCHA, 8-8-3 overall) came out strong to start the game, and seemed to catch the Tigers off guard. Wisconsin controlled the puck and was able to dictate the speed of the game, out-shooting Colorado College 8-4 in the first period.
But the Badgers were unable to capitalize on their scoring opportunities. Freshman goaltender Richard Bachman has played especially well against Wisconsin, and it showed in the first.
Bachman was able to keep the game scoreless despite some impressive saves, including a barrage of shots from UW freshman forward Patrick Johnson and sophomore forward Andy Bohmbach.
However, while the game remained tied, there was a definite shift in momentum midway through the second period.
We stopped doing the things that we talked about doing [all week in practice],"" UW head coach Mike Eaves said. ""I think sometimes as a coach you wish you could get inside their young minds and figure out what they are doing and what they are thinking about, but in so many ways we stopped doing what we had been doing.""
Colorado College bounced back in the second, out-shooting the Badgers 12-8. This time it was Badger junior goalie Shane Connelly who stepped-up. The Cheltenham, Penn., native stopped shot after shot, including three straight shots from Tiger forwards.
Connelly's second period play was huge considering the rest of the team's sloppy play, which would come back to haunt UW in the end.
""In the second half of the second period we had more turnovers than I can remember for a long time, and ultimately the game came down to two turnovers.""
The third period would pick up where the second period had ended. The level of intensity slowly drained, and the result was a slowly paced, grind-it-out style that has become the main staple of Western Collegiate Hockey Association play.
Wisconsin bounced back in the third, getting some early shots against Bachman, but were unable to put any in the net.
And with that frustration came poor decisions and play for the Badgers. While on a powerplay, Colorado College was able to take the lead on a shorthanded goal by junior forward Chad Rau at the 9:21 mark.
A pass to the top of the slot bounced over senior defenseman Kyle Klubertanz's stick, and Rau was there to take the puck, and go the distance, wristing a shot past Connelly's left shoulder.
""I had him right where I wanted him and he just beat me,"" Connelly said. ""I don't think that I got a piece of it.""
The shorthanded goal deflated Wisconsin, who has struggled greatly on the powerplay as of late.
""Going into their first goal, we were in an excellent opportunity to get a scoring chance and score and [the puck] bounces over our stick and they go down and score,"" Eaves said. ""That's just kind of the way it is right now for our powerplay.""
About two minutes later, the Tigers would strike again.
This time a cross-ice pass from Klubertanz was picked off by freshman forward Tyler Johnson, who went one-on-one with Connelly for his first goal of the season. Johnson was able to deke to the left and sneak the puck in between Connelly's left pad and the pipe.
While UW still had almost half a period to mount a comeback, the team was unable to refocus and rise to the occasion.
Eaves spent an unusual amount of time talking to the team after the game, and commented on what he told his young team.
""We just talked about the game, the type of game it was and the type of team that we are right now and the type of way that we need to play, and that we need to have a most excellent response tomorrow,"" Eaves said.
In other Badger news, the USA team lost the Canada 4-1 in the semi-finals of the World Junior Championship. Freshman forward Kyle Turris was credited with an assist for team Canada, who will take on Sweden in the finals.
Team USA went on to lose to Russia 4-2 in the bronze medal game, and finished fourth in the tournament.
