MINNEAPOLIS — Saturday at Mariucci Arena, it all came down to one play.
With the game tied at 3 apiece, senior forward Michael Mersch, who scored the equalizer earlier in the period, tried to lift a pass over to senior defenseman Joe Faust.
But Gophers junior forward Seth Ambroz got in the way, intercepting the pass and burying it in the back of the net with 26 seconds remaining in regulation.
“I let my team down tonight,” Mersch said. “But I’m lucky to have good teammates who give me a pat on the back and help me through a tough time.”
In the end, No. 12 Wisconsin (0-2-0 Big Ten, 4-5-1 overall) was swept by No. 1 Minnesota (2-0-0, 11-2-1) in the first-ever weekend of Big Ten hockey. Wisconsin lost Friday’s game by a margin of 4-1, and Saturday’s 4-3 loss belied a contest that was relatively evenly matched.
Despite entering Big Ten play for the first time, Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves said that the series felt like the classic Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalry that was fostered for years in the WCHA.
“It was a tight game with good plays and good saves,” Eaves said. “If I’m a college hockey fan, it was a pretty good game.”
Friday’s game began with a penalty-laden first period. The march to the box started less than two minutes in with Wisconsin taking a hooking penalty. Five minutes later, the Badgers went up 1-0 on a goal through traffic from junior forward Joseph LaBate.
Wisconsin took its second penalty midway through the period. Four seconds into a Gopher power play, Minnesota sophomore defenseman Mike Reilly ripped a slapshot past junior goaltender Landon Peterson to tie the game.
Minnesota struck again when Ambroz scored his first goal of the series and fourth of the season, taking a 2-1 lead the Gophers would not give up for the rest of the game.
A classic rivalry skirmish ensued minutes later, bringing the penalty count to seven. By the end of the uneventful second period, the Gophers and Badgers amassed a total of 12 penalties.
“The fact that we have to talk about officials says it all, and that will be my final comment on that,” Eaves said.
Midway through the third period the Gophers won a faceoff and burst into Wisconsin’s zone on a 3-on-2, and Minnesota redshirt freshman forward Connor Reilly was able to beat Peterson, giving Minnesota a 3-1 lead.
With less than two minutes remaining, Wisconsin pulled Peterson and Ambroz scored his second of the game on the empty net to make it 4-1. Minnesota put up 45 shots against Peterson, who saved 42 in the eventual loss.
“I felt like I played pretty well,” Peterson said. “As a goalie, you can only control so much in a hockey game.”
Wisconsin managed 25 shots against Gophers sophomore goaltender Adam Wilcox. Though they had multiple power play chances, the Badgers struggled to score on the man advantage, going 0 for 5 on the night.
The Badgers came out with more intensity Saturday for junior goaltender Joel Rumpel’s start, getting on the board early yet again with a wrist shot from Simonelli. Senior forward Mark Zengerle’s assist on the goal was the 100th of his career as a Badger.
Less than a minute later, junior forward Kyle Rau responded with a goal for Minnesota that trickled past Rumpel and barely crossed the goal line.
The penalty trend from the night before continued Saturday. Four penalties were assessed on a single play before another three roughing penalties were issued a few minutes later.
Wisconsin regained its lead when sophomore forward Nic Kerdiles finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play for his fifth goal of the season.
The Gophers tied it up again in the second period when redshirt freshman Morgan Zulinick fanned on a clearing attempt and Ambroz knocked the puck in top-shelf for a goal. The Badgers were tested on the penalty kill late in the period when Simonelli was called for a hold, but Rumpel stood tall.
Early in the third period, Gophers sophomore forward Brady Skjei scored from the point to give Minnesota its first lead of the night, but midway through the third the Badgers created traffic around Wilcox and Mersch redirected a Kerdiles pass into the net to make it 3-3.
When Wisconsin took another late holding penalty the Gophers were able to control the power play and find momentum culminating in one play: Ambroz’s fourth goal of the series, just 26 seconds away from an almost certain overtime.
Wisconsin pulled Rumpel for the final seconds, but was unable to capitalize and the Gophers ultimately won 4-3.
“Hopefully that’s a lesson learned for everybody and we can move on,” Eaves said.
