Badgers Reroute Union College in Showdown
December 27, 2003 | Men's Hockey
The Wisconsin Badgers dominated the Union College Dutchmen by a score of 8-1 in game two of the Badger Hockey Showdown Saturday night at the Kohl Center. In front of 10,890 fans, sophomore Ryan MacMurchy (Regina, Sask.) and freshman A.J. Degenhardt (LaCrosse, Wis.) each notched two goals and senior co-captain Dan Boeser (Savage, Minn.) had three points in the contest.
Union College kicked off the action in the first period of play. The Dutchmen's Jason Visser scored the first goal of the evening at 8:39 with assists from Matt Vagvolgyi and Jordan Webb. The Badgers did not take long to respond and Rene Bourque (Lac La Biche, Alberta) tied the game at 11:07, assisted by Andrew Joudrey (Bedford, N.S.) and Ryan MacMurchy. Nearly two minutes later, A.J. Degenhardt carried the puck around netminder Kris Mayotte's left side and into the net. He had help from Adam Burish (Madison, Wis.). Defenseman Dan Boeser rocked in a slapshot at 16:53 in the first frame to give Wisconsin a comfortable 3-1 lead heading into the second 20:00 of play.
Wisconsin's unrelenting offense tallied three more goals in the second period. The first tally belonged to Tom Gilbert (Bloomington, Minn.). Boeser received a pass from Pete Talafous (Hudson, Wis.), carried the puck into the offensive zone, and redirected it to Gilbert for the shot at 3:17. The action near UC's pipes continued for much of the frame as Ryan MacMurchy notched the next Badger goal at 14:05. He took advantage of a pass from Boeser and slapped the puck past Mayotte. UW 's Andrew Joudrey scored the third goal of the period at 16:12, slapping a high stick-side shot through the pipes with assists from Bourque and Boeser, with his third point of the night. Elliott continued to make stops for the Badgers between the posts with nine saves through the first 40:00.
The Dutchmen defense turned on the heat in the third period, allowing only five shots on goal. Degenhardt still managed to find the net, for the second time in the contest, making the score 7-1 at 10:49 in the final frame. He received a pass from Adam Burish and Tom Sawatske (Duluth, Minn.) also had an assist on the play. A break-away by Bourque set up the final Badger goal at 17:39, who dumped the puck the MacMurchy to finish it off. MacMurchy's goal was his 12th of the season and Bourque tallied his 13th point.
In the net for the Badgers was freshman netminder Brian Elliott (Newmarket, Ont.) stopped 14 shots on goal in 55:25 of play. Sophomore Luke Kohtala sat in for the final 4:35 in his first collegiate minutes between the pipes.
With Saturday's victory, UW broke the school record unbeaten streak, extending it to 15 games, and remains undefeated at home. The last time Wisconsin went nine games unbeaten at home to start the season was the 1971-72 season (Nov. 12-Jan. 7).
The Badgers (12-3-4, 6-2-4 WCHA) will face-off against Ferris State in the championship game of the Badger Hockey Showdown at 7:35 p.m. Sunday night at the Kohl Center. Union will play UMass-Lowell in the consolation game at 4:35 p.m.
