Although five seniors said farewell Saturday, the men's hockey team ended its tumultuous season on a sour note. Wisconsin (7-17-4 Western Collegiate Hockey Association, 13-21-4 overall) simply could not produce against a stronger, faster North Dakota team (14-9-5, 24-9-5), falling 5-2 Friday and 5-0 Saturday.
The Badgers began the series well, as freshman defenseman Tom Gilbert notched a power play goal midway through the first period Friday. Wisconsin, however, could not maintain its lead as UND sophomore center Rory McMahon gave his team a power play goal of its own just a few minutes later. Sophomore forward Quinn Fylling assisted him with the goal, one of his five assists on the weekend. The Badgers couldn't stop Fylling, as he notched two more assists in the period, setting up senior forward Kevin Spiewak and junior center David Lundbohm.
Wisconsin attempted to bounce back from the two-goal deficit in the second period and narrowed the gap to one goal. Junior center Pete Talafous received a pass that deflected off UND sophomore defender Matt Jones' skate and flicked it past junior goaltender Marc Ranfranz into the net.
The Fighting Sioux secured their lead in the third period by adding goals from Spiewak and freshman center Zach Parise, bringing their goal total to five and snapping their seven-game winless streak. Coupled with St. Cloud State's loss to Minnesota, UND secured home ice in the WCHA playoffs.
\My concern is, we start winning and catapult us into the playoffs, whether we're at home or on the road. We're 1-7-1 in our last nine games and needed something to happen. This is a real positive win tonight,"" Blais said.
Saturday night was senior night--the final time five players would suit up at the Kohl Center--but the only thing the senior class contributed was penalties. Senior goaltender Scott Kabotoff collected 34 saves but allowed five goals while Ranfranz saved 17 shots, a number that reflected poorly on Wisconsin's offense.
North Dakota had no problems capitalizing on a sluggish team that collected 10 penalties throughout the night. Midway through the first period, senior left wing Brad Winchester and Fighting Sioux freshman forward Mike Prpich received two-minute penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct, the first of many for both teams. Just three minutes later, Winchester and Prpich were back in the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct, this time joined by UW freshman forward Ryan MacMurchy and sophomore defender Andy Schneider.??
The Badgers were ready to head into the locker room at the end of the first period but Parise slipped one last goal in with less than one second left on the clock. The goal put Wisconsin down by two and proved to be a momentum swing for UND.
""Those kill you,"" Eaves said. ""Guys were ticked. They were the ones in the room, blasting each other, 'We can't allow that to happen,' but it did happen.""
Gilbert only caused trouble for Wisconsin Saturday, as he racked up three penalties in six minutes in the second period. His first and third penalties especially hurt the team, as UND capitalized on the man advantage and scored two goals. Senior forward Jason Notermann and Schneider contributed goals to UND, now up by four.
""[Gilbert] sat down for awhile,"" Eaves said. ""I said, 'Tom, you've got to give it a shake here,' but I still love the kid. I'd go to war with him any time. Same with MacMurchy. Those are young warriors that we're going to count on in years to come.""
UND scored a fifth goal early in the third period when sophomore forward Brian Canady fired a shot past Kabotoff. With two losses, UW sits in eighth place in the WCHA and will head to Minnesota State-Mankato for the first round of the WCHA tournament.
