The Badger men's hockey team (4-12-3 WCHA, 10-17-3 overall) was not about to fall victim to the one team that is behind them in league standings. The Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves (0-18-6, 1-20-7) are winless in the WCHA and have not won a game since their season opener Oct. 11. Wisconsin came in looking to avenge two ties earlier this season at Alaska and did so by coming away with a sweep.
Friday night started off slowly. After a scoreless first period and a half, sophomore goalie Bernd Bruckler showed off his puck-handling skills by hooking up with freshman wing Ryan MacMurchy for a power play goal. Bruckler, not usually known for his puck-handling ability, was excited about helping out on the offensive.
\The coaches have worked with me in the part of playing the puck, and puck handling and trying to shoot it out, and I think it definitely shows that I have gotten a lot better,"" Bruckler said.
A mere 12 seconds later, the Badgers found the net again when sophomore wing Nick Licari blasted a one-timer past junior netminder Kevin Reiter for what turned out to be the game-winning goal. But the Badgers did not stop there. Licari later found senior captain winger Brad Winchester for a rare shorthanded goal. The two teams traded goals in the third period. Junior defenseman Andy Wozniewski got his first goal of the season on the Badger power play, and sophomore wing John Hopson got his ninth of the year on the power play for the Seawolves, as the Badgers took game one of the series 4-1.
The power play had been struggling for the Badgers this season. The man advantage began to show signs of life this weekend, netting three power play goals on 10 chances this weekend.
The Badgers came out Saturday night with only one thing in mind: a sweep. With just three seconds left on a Badger power play, senior assistant captain defender Brian Fahey stole the puck and sent it bouncing over junior goalie Chris King's glove for the Badgers' third power-play goal of the weekend. In the second period Winchester squeaked one through King's legs to put the Badgers up two. Junior center Pete Talafous, a transfer from Anchorage, got the third and eventual game-winning goal after redirecting the puck over King's glove.
""I have nothing against those guys at all. It was just a sweep for us, it didn't matter who we played this weekend,"" Talafous said.
Anchorage put some pressure on Wisconsin in the third, as sophomore defenseman Lee Green and freshman center Curtis Glencross pulled the Seawolves within one. They pulled their goalie in hopes that a one-man advantage could help tie it up, but it did not take long for Winchester to seal the game with an empty net goal and a 4-2 victory.
""It's a big weekend for us. You can't take anything for granted in this league. Anytime you can sweep in this league is a big deal,"" Winchester said.
Licari nearly doubled his season point total this weekend, netting the game-winning goal on Friday night and assisting on three other goals throughout the weekend. He played with an intensity that kept his team up the entire weekend.
""Nick was one of those pleasant surprises. He's worked hard. It was nice for him to be rewarded,"" Eaves said.
Winchester fulfilled his duties as captain, netting three goals for the Badgers. Fahey, an assistant captain, backed him up with a goal and two assists of his own.
""We won two games. We did a lot of good things. We had a lot of people contribute. We're going to focus on that and that's the wind we're going to use in our sails next week,"" Head Coach Mike Eaves said.
The sweep brought the Badgers within four points of Michigan Tech for eighth place in the WCHA. They look to continue their winning ways as they travel to Minnesota for another heated battle with the Gophers next weekend.
