Despite being outscored by four goals, Wisconsin was able to survive the weekend with only one loss against No.9 Denver after tying the Pioneers Friday night.The Badgers put forward a strong effort in Friday’s 3-3 tie, but ultimately ran out of gas Saturday, falling 6-2.
Although Wisconsin fell behind early Friday, UW countered to take a commanding lead in the second period.
UW scored three times in four minutes to take a 3-1 lead heading into the third period. Junior forward Jedd Soleway and freshman forwards Matt Freytag and Luke Kunin each scored.
Quickly after, Denver was able to slide the puck past UW goalie Matt Jurusik twice moments before the period closed to even the score 3-3.
“It feels like a win for us and I think we have to look at it like that with this young group and anything that gives us a puff of wind in our sails we are going to take advantage of,” UW head coach Mike Eaves said after the game.
However, the Badgers did not do much sailing come Saturday night when Denver imposed its will en route to its 6-2 win.
Following Saturday’s lopsided loss, head coach Mike Eaves was frustrated with the team’s lackluster performance.
“I think this was the first night in a long time, we've played 12 games now, that we can say, ’We didn't take a step forward, or half a step forward tonight,’” Eaves said.
“Tonight we just didn't take that step and that was disappointing,” he later added.
Some of Eaves’ frustration in the second game stemmed from the Badgers’ poor start to the game. Wisconsin fell behind 4-0 before some fans even made it into the arena.
Denver’s first goal was scored off a rebound that Colin Staub rifled past the outstretched arms of Jurusik. Nearly eight minutes later, Jarid Lukosevicius skated into the UW zone and whizzed a wrist shot past the glove of Jurusik to make it 2-0.
Without wasting any time, the Pioneers continued their scoring ways just 26 seconds into the second period. Troy Terry poked a redirect blast home on a power play to extend the lead by three goals.
Then, after finally settling in, Denver suffocated Wisconsin with its fourth consecutive goal as Dylan Gambrell sniped a one-timer into the net.
With spirits low, UW mustered the competitive drive within to make it a game again. Shortly after Gambrell’s goal, Tim Davison knocked in a power play goal to give the Badgers some much needed hope. Then, Jake Linhart found himself open at the point and blasted home a slap shot to cut the deficit to two goals with a full period left of play.
“We definitely had some momentum going, had some energy and a little boost on the bench,” Davison said after the game.
Ultimately, the jolted Badgers came up short after allowing an early period goal and an empty-netter.
In his postgame press conference, Eaves noted the importance of fighting through adversity.
“What's really important now is how we respond to the things that happened tonight and we have another couple weeks here to work on that and it's about how we respond in practice,” Eaves said.
Wisconsin will hop back on the ice in two weeks for a showdown in Ann Arbor with the streaking-hot Wolverines.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
