Shoot-out Win Nets Badgers Third Place at Showdown
December 29, 2001 | Men's Hockey
Break out the history books Badger fans! In a Wisconsin men's hockey first, the Badgers clinched the third place Hockey Showdown win over Colorado College in a thrilling sudden-death shoot out.
The Badgers and tenth-ranked Tigers fought a physical regulation game plus overtime to enter the first shoot out tied 3-3. Wisconsin's Matt Hussey led the Badgers with two goals, assisted on both by Brad Winchester and Kent Davyduke.
Hussey scored his first goal just 33 seconds into the first period followed by his second goal at 11:27 to take the 2-0 Wisconsin lead.
The Tigers roared back into the game after Richard Petiot scored at 1:12 in the second period off assists from Joe Cullen and Colin Stuart. Badger goalkeeper Scott Kabotoff held off the Tigers and stopping the ensuing shooting barrage. The UW junior collected 20 saves alone in the second period.
The score remained 2-1 after 40 minutes, but Colorado College 's James Laux found the puck off the face-off and set up Cullen for the 2-2 tie goal at 0:11 to start the third.
Bouncing back from Thursday's flat performance, the Badgers continued to play Colorado aggressively. UW sophomore Rene Bourque took the lead back for the Badgers scoring his first goal of the Showdown at 8:00 off a Matt Doman assist.
However, the Tigers continued firing on the Badger defense and with just four minutes left in regulation, CC's Peter Sejna notched the 3-3 equalizer off assists from Tiger teammates Andrew Canzanello and Tom Preissig.
The tie game remained scoreless through the overtime to enter the first shoot out. Both teams sent five players a piece to the duel. Colorado College 's Alex Kim claimed the Tigers' first and only shoot-out goal, but Wisconsin defenseman Dan Boeser brought the Badgers back into the game on their last attempt with his hockey smarts.
The UW sophomore drove straight towards Tiger netminder Curtis McElhinney to fire left at the last second and light the lamp for the first shoot-out tie.
The third place battle entered a final sudden-death shoot out with the Bradley Center crowd on its feet.
Again, both teams readied their five shooters, but this time, Wisconsin sealed their bronze victory. Kabotoff made the last of his career-high 56 saves against Sejna in the Tigers' first attempt.
After Sejna, with 8,775 Showdown tournament fans watching, Wisconsin 's second shooter, Bourque, took to the ice. The sophomore circled at center ice then flew towards McElhinny to score the Badgers' sudden-death shoot-out winning goal. It was Bourque's sixth career goal versus the Tigers and his 17th career goal overall.
The shoot out enters Wisconsin's history books as the first ever in Showdown and Badger history, while the 3-3 tie marks the seventh of the last eight games between the Tigers and the Badgers decided by one or less goals.
Wrapping up the Badger Hockey Showdown, the New Hampshire Wildcats won the tournament title after an 11-3 defeat over Brown University. UW's Hussey finished with three goals overall and Kabotoff earned All-Tournament team honors for his 56 save performance.
Looking ahead, January will see the Badgers face the top three teams in the country. Wisconsin travels to second-ranked Denver next weekend, followed by a Kohl Center series versus Minnesota. Wisconsin will host top-ranked St. Cloud State to close out the month.
