The last three times Wisconsin was in this position, 60 minutes was not sufficient to decide a winner.Saturday night, it was just enough. The Wisconsin Badgers, for the first time since 2006, are headed back to the Frozen Four courtesy of a 5-3 win over conference rival St. Cloud in the Western Regional Final. There were 7,182 on hand at the Xcel Energy Center to witness the Huskies (15-9-4 WCHA, 24-14-5 overall) twice pull themselves within a goal in the third period before the Badgers (17-8-3, 27-10-4) finally held on to secure their spot in Detroit. ""It feels incredible,"" senior forward and captain Blake Geoffrion said. ""I know a lot of seniors have worked since our freshman year coming in, coming in after a championship team and seeing how those guys work and how hard they work, so for us the opportunity to possibly go to the national championship game, it's an incredible feeling right now. Job's not done yet though.""
The Badgers last three appearances in regional finals, losses to Maine and North Dakota and a win over Cornell en route to a national title, all ended in overtime.
This time around Wisconsin rode the strength of a first period burst through much of the night. Its skaters lit the lamp three times in the period, chasing the Huskies' freshman goaltender Mike Lee, who just eight days earlier frustrated the same Badgers in a conference semifinal game.
Furthermore, Wisconsin seemed to play with more energy, getting to far more loose pucks.
Badger players pointed to redemption as a driving force in that early going while head coach Mike Eaves said his staff had been emphasizing a quick start. His counterpart Bob Motzko felt those 20 minutes framed the whole game.
""We were flat, the first period was just a struggle for us,"" said Motzko, whose team went into double overtime against Northern Michigan the night before. ""We felt it on the bench, our guys felt it, our tanks were down. You're trying to encourage, but the biggest thing is you got to fight through those moments.""
Down 3-1 heading into the third, the Huskies made their final push to preserve the season, and, instead of panicking or growing flustered, Wisconsin pushed back. Sophomore forward Jared Festler scored his second goal shorthanded, when he put in his own rebound on a breakaway, but two minutes later senior forward John Mitchell jammed in a puck from the side of the crease after senior forward Andy Bohmbach burst up the wing and moved in near Lee.
""Actually [the feeling on the bench] was pretty good [after the goals], guys were chatting, the composure was good"" fifth-year senior captain Ben Street, who played on the 2006 title team, said. ""We gave up that one goal that was kind of a fluky one and instead of kind of hanging our heads, everyone just said, ‘alright that's going to happen but let's stay on the gas pedal here' … I remember in previous years how that stiff would happen and then it would snowball a bit.""
SCSU would create one more chance to test the Badgers' resolve, and again, Wisconsin held firm. With under three minutes to go, junior forward Tony Mosey closed the gap on a bad-angle shot that hit Wisconsin junior goaltender Scott Gudmandson in the side and trickled in. The Badgers answered with an Aaron Bendickson empty-netter that removed any suspense.
""Responding like we did was pivotal,"" Eaves said. ""I think that's been a battle cry all year and I know most coaches will use it, ‘We need a response. It's how we respond to this moment right now. We can't worry about what's just happened, let's have a great shift right now.' And we were able to do that and almost snuff out any momentum they may have gotten going.""
For their performance, four Badgers were named to the regional all-tournament team; Scott Gudmandson, Geoffrion and junior defensemen Brendan Smith and Ryan McDonagh. A Hobey Baker finalist, Geoffrion also took home the region's MVP award with two goals and three assists in the two games, including the game-winner Friday and the helper on Bendickson's game-clincher Saturday.
The win means the Badgers will head to their second Frozen Four under Eaves and 11th overall. They will face Atlantic Hockey's Rochester Institute of Technology, which entered as the 15th team in a 16-team tournament, but upset strong Denver and New Hampshire teams to win the East Regional.
