Well…I was right with the split part….but mixed up the days! Too bad for the Huskies, a sweep would have been nice!
Madison, Wis. – The #4 St. Cloud State University men’s hockey team (20-10-4, 15-8-3 WCHA) suffered a tough 7-4 loss at #3 University of Wisconsin (19-8-4, 14-7-3 WCHA) on Saturday, Feb. 20, in a game played before a sellout crowd of 15,237 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
The Huskies jumped to a quick 1-0 lead in the game with a tally by junior forward Garrett Roe (Vienna, Va.) at 1:10 of the first period. Sophomore forward Travis Novak (Lethbridge, Alberta) had the lone assist on the play.
Wisconsin tied the game at 6:36 of the first period with a power play goal by Mike Davies. The two squads battle to a draw for the better part of the first period, before the Badgers gained a 2-1 lead at 18:58 as Brendan Smith scored a power play goal with assists from Justin Schultz and Derek Stepan.
In the second period, UW’s pushed its lead to 3-1 with a goal by Stepan at 8:12. SCSU got back into the mix with an even strength goal by sophomore defender Oliver Lauridsen (Gentofte, Denmark) at 19:14. He was assisted on the play by Roe and senior forward Ryan Lasch (Lake Forest, Calif.).
The Badgers’ Ben Street then made it 4-2 with :01 left in the second period, as he nabbed a long pass from Davies and scored on a last second breakaway past SCSU netminder Mike Lee (Roseau). Stepan had the second assist on the play.
The offense really got rolling in the third period, as a total of five goals were scored. SCSU junior forward Aaron Marvin (Warroad) made the score 4-3 with an even-strength goal at 8:15 of the third. Lasch and freshman Taylor Johnson (Hugo) had assists on the play, which ended with Marvin pushing home the loose puck after the intitial scoring attempt by Lasch.
UW made it 5-3 with a marker by Jordy Murray at 11:35, before the SCSU sophomore forward Drew LeBlanc (Hermantown) made it 5-4 with his fifth goal of the season at 11:54. Freshman forward Ben Hanowski (Little Falls) and sophomore defender Sam Zabkowicz (Greendale, Wis.) each had assists on the goal.
The Badgers went on to ice the contest with late period goals in the third period by Andy Bohmbach at 14:51 and Aaron Bendickson at 16:33, which made the final score 7-4.
In the game, UW outshot the Huskies 50-23. On the power play, SCSU was 0-of-6 and Wisconsin was 2-of-8. Lee made a career-high 43 saves in the game, while Scott Gudmandson had 19 saves for the Badgers.
SCSU will have off next week, as the Huskies prepare for the final regular season games of the season on March 5-6. SCSU will travel to Minnesota State on March 5, and the Huskies will complete the home-home series on March 6 with a 7:07 p.m. game at the NHC against Minnesota State. This game will mark Senior Night at SCSU.
The weekend split at Wisconsin also insured the Huskies of home ice in the upcoming first round of the WCHA Play-offs on March 12-14. The best of three series will be held at the NHC, and the Huskies’ first round opponent will be determined by the outcome of the remaining league games.
For complete information about tickets for the Minnesota State game or the upcoming WCHA playoffs, please call 1-877-SCSUTIX or 320-308-2137.
HUSKY HOCKEY NOTES: Ryan Lasch broke a team record on Feb. 20, as he played in his 152nd career game with the Huskies. He surpasses the old mark of 151 games, which was set by Taj Melson. Lasch also moved into second place in the career scoring charts ahead of Tim Hanus (1988-92). Lasch now has 173 career points (76g/97a) and needs five more points this season to tie the all-time scoring record of 179 points set by Jeff Saterdalen from 1988-92…this marks the 8th season that SCSU has charted 20+ wins since moving to the DI level in 1987-88…SCSU is currently tied for 4th in the Pairwise Rankings on Feb. 20.
