The No. 4 seeded Wisconsin men's hockey team continued its hot streak Friday, riding three unanswered goals to a 4-1 victory over No. 1 seed St. Cloud State at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul Minnesota.
UW was coming off of its best offensive game of the season Thursday in their 7-2 victory over Minnesota State.
The Badgers (13-8-7 WCHA, 21-12-7 overall) got on the board in the first after sophomore forward Joseph Labate fired a shot that found its way past Husky sophomore goaltender Ryan Faragher.
The Huskies (18-9-1, 23-15-1) answered back quickly though, as senior forward Ben Hanowski beat sophomore goaltender Joel Rumpel to tie the game at one.
Rumpel provided the highlight of the game in the first period with a stick save on Husky junior forward Nic Dowd. Rumpel deflected a rebound towards Dowd who had an open net to shoot at, until Rumpel's stick came out of his hand to knock the puck away.
The play was a source of controversy because, if Rumpel was ruled to have thrown his stick, the Huskies would be credited with a goal. The refs however determined that freshman defenseman Kevin Schulze knocked the stick out of Rumpel's hand, and the save stood.
The Badgers took the lead once again in the second period with a power play goal from senior defenseman John Ramage. Freshman forward Nic Kerdiles would add to the UW lead later in the period with a power play tally of his own.
Wisconsin would hold on to its lead late into the third, when junior forward Tyler Barnes added an empty net goal to seal the 4-1 victory and earn a spot in the WCHA championship game Saturday.
The Badgers will face Colorado College Saturday after the Tigers took down No. 2 seeded Minnesota 2-0 Friday night. Saturday's winner will bring home the Broadmoor Trophy as conference champions and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
Colorado College swept Wisconsin earlier this season.
