Badgers Win Showdown Championship
December 30, 2002 | Men's Hockey
With their 3-1 win over Northern Michigan tonight, the Wisconsin Badgers (7-11, 1-7 WCHA) won their eighth Bank One Badger Hockey Showdown title in the 14-year history of the tournament.
Rene Bourque, Tom Gilbert and John Funk scored for Wisconsin while A.J. Degenhardt chipped in with a pair of assists. Scott Kabotoff made 15 saves in the game for his third win of the season.
Bourque got the Badgers on the board with just three seconds to go in the first period. Tournament MVP Brian Fahey hit Bourque, who was right out of the penalty box, with a long pass and Bourque scored between Craig Kowalski's legs for the breakaway goal, his team-leading eighth tally of the season.
Northern Michigan tied the game just over two minutes into the second on Andrew Contois' power play goal. The Badgers went on to dominated the period, pounding Kowalski with 17 shots. Gilbert scored what turned out to be the game winning goal with 6:18 remaining in the second. Jake Heisler found Gilbert sliding through the slot and Gilbert pushed the puck off his backhand.
The Badgers put together their best defensive period of the season in the third, holding the desperate Wildcats to no shots. John Funk iced the game for Wisconsin with an empty net goal, his first career goal.
This was the third meeting between these two teams for the Badger Showdown championship, with the Badgers winning all of them. It was also the second game between the teams this season. Wisconsin defeated NMU 4-3 in overtime in the consolation game of the IceBreaker Invitational in October.
Wisconsin returns to league action this weekend when it hosts the Minnesota State Mavericks at the Kohl Center on Friday and Saturday night. Face-off on Friday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and Saturday is at 8:05 p.m.
