The Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team (9-12-1) fell to the Michigan State Spartans (17-2-1) in overtime on Saturday night at the Frozen Confines. The Badgers were one of four men's hockey teams that traveled to Chicago for a chance to play in the Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series.
The Badgers and Spartans had met three times this season prior to the Frozen Confines. Wisconsin hosted Michigan State in December where they split the series, losing the second game in overtime. On Jan. 2, the Badgers traveled to East Lansing and lost 3-4.
On Saturday, the Spartans struck first with four minutes and 24 seconds remaining in the first period. Freshman defender Vladislav Lukashevich shot from the point, beating Wisconsin senior goaltender Tommy Scarfone for his first goal of the season.
Michigan State’s Daniel Russell doubled the Spartans’ lead within the first five minutes of play in the second period. Defender Austin Oravetz took a shot from the point and Russell put the rebound away through Scarfone’s five-hole.
Wisconsin freshman forward Gavin Morrissey responded by putting the Badgers on the board with 9:43 remaining in the second period. Graduate defender Anthony Kehrer’s shot from the left circle was blocked by Spartans goaltender Luca Di Pasquo, but Kehrer collected his rebound and passed to Morrissey from behind the net, who then put the puck away on a steep-angle one-timer.
Sophomore forward Quinn Finley tied the game for the Badgers with 5:25 left in the second period. Sophomore defender Joe Palodichuk took a shot from the right point that was deflected behind the net by graduate forward Ryland Mosley. Finley found the deflection and shot the puck past Di Pasquo. Finley leads the nation with 16 goals and 27 points this season.
The Spartans regained their lead in the third period on a goal from Isaac Howard in the seventh minute of play.
In the final minutes of play, the Badgers pulled their goaltender for an extra skater, attempting to tie the game. Junior defender Ben Dexheimer held control of the puck on the blue line, finding Finley on the top of the right circle. With just 49.2 seconds remaining, Finley sent the puck across the net and was tipped in at the back door by Mosley.
"He made a great pass. We made eye contact and he threw it through feet, sticks, everything and it was right on my tape. It was special,” Mosley said about the pass from Finley leading to the game-tying goal.
With Mosley’s goal, Wisconsin went into their ninth overtime of the season and second overtime against the Spartans.
The Spartan’s Daniel Russell scored the game-winning goal with 1.4 seconds remaining in overtime.
“It is really special, and so I know this one hurts, all losses do, but we can learn from them,” head coach Mike Hastings said.
When asked about the opportunity to play at Wrigley Field, graduate forward Ryland Mosley said it was “amazing.”
“The anthem, I had chills the whole time just looking around and seeing all those people, they were loud,” he said. “It was a great atmosphere. It was really cool.”
The Badgers will return to the Kohl Center for the first time in over a month, hosting the Long Island University Sharks (13-7-1) on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18. Puck drops at 7 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday.
