Before this weekend the No. 7 Wisconsin men's hockey team was riding high. Winners of 12 of their last 13 games the Badgers were one of the hottest teams in the country, climbing up the WCHA standings and national polls. But all of that came screeching to a halt this weekend as the Badgers were swept on the road by No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha.
In the series opener Friday, UW seized the early momentum, taking a 1-0 into the first intermission thanks to a goal from junior Jordy Murray.
But after that, it was all downhill for the Badgers. Nebraska-Omaha came storming out of the gates in the second with two quick goals to take a lead they would never relinquish. Maverick senior forward tallied the first goal on a power play with a shot from the left face-off dot, and freshman Johnnie Searfoss scored the second less than 90 seconds later to stake UNO to the 2-1 lead.
The Mavericks added another goal early in the third period courtesy of junior forward Alex Hudson off a 2-on-1.
With UNO up 3-1, the Badgers applied heavy pressure for the rest of the game, outshooting the Mavericks 16-8 for the third period. They failed to find the back of the net, however, and Omaha was able to seal the 4-1 victory with an empty net goal from senior forward Rich Purslow.
On Saturday the Badgers hoped to bounce back and avoid the sweep on the road for the first time since Oct. 2008.
The Badgers found themselves playing catch up early. UNO got on the board with a 2-on-1 play that was finished off by freshman forward Brock Montpetit.
Wisconsin did manage to tie the game just before the end of the first period thanks to a goal off of a broken 2-on-1 play from junior defenseman Jake Gardiner.
But for the second night in a row, the Mavericks took control of the game in the second period. UNO rattled off two unanswered goals from senior forward Matt Ambroz and a power play tally from Hudson.
After Ambroz added his second of the night to push the Omaha lead to 4-1, the Badgers dormant power play, that had gone 0-for-9 to that point, awoke and nearly brought the Badgers back.
Murray netted the first power play goal at 12:11 of the third, and with about six minutes left in the game, sophomore forward Craig Smith managed to make things interesting with another power play marker off a one-timer, cutting the UNO lead to 4-3. But the comeback fell just short as Nebraska-Omaha held on for the victory and the series sweep.
Omaha and Wisconsin came into the series fourth and fifth, respectively, in the WCHA standings, and were separated by only two points. With the sweep, though, the Badgers fall six points behind UNO, who is now tied for third with Minnesota-Duluth.
Wisconsin can't dwell on this setback for too long as the rival Minnesota Gophers come into town next weekend for another crucial series. Minnesota sits in seventh place, only three points off the Badgers' pace.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
