Badgers Earn Split With 3-2 Triumph
December 11, 2004 | Men's Hockey
Bernd Bruckler (Graz, Austria) made 31 saves to help the No. 2 Wisconsin men's hockey team hold on for a 3-2 win over Minnesota State Saturday night at the Midwest Wireless Civic Center.
The victory earned the Badgers (13-5-0 overall, 10-4-0 WCHA) a weekend split and propelled UW back into first place in the WCHA.
Robbie Earl (Los Angeles) and Joe Pavelski (Plover, Wis.) each notched power play goals in the second period for Wisconsin, which was able to hold the Mavericks (7-7-2, 4-7-1) to 0-for-7 with the man advantage.
Minnesota State scored first at 11:48 of the opening period as Brad Thompson scored his third goal of the season.
Andrew Joudrey (Bedford, Nova Scotia) tied the game at 17:06 of the first with assists from Ryan MacMurchy (Regina, Saskatchewan) and Jeff Likens (Barrington, Ill.).
Although the Badgers out-shot the Mavericks 15-7 in the first period, the game went to the first intermission tied at one.
Earl quickly broke the tie with a power-play goal 38 seconds into the second. Earl beat Maverick goalie Jon Volp from the right point for his tenth goal of the season. Kyle Klubertanz (Sun Prairie, Wis.) and Ross Carlson (Duluth, Minn.) were credited with assists.
Pavelski extended the UW lead to 3-1 at 12:37 of the second when he scored his seventh goal of the season. Likens and Carlson each added their second assists of the night on what proved to be the game-winning goal.
The Mavericks closed the score to 3-2 8:02 into the third when Jon Dubel got a puck past Bruckler shortly after a Minnesota State power play had ended.
However UW regrouped and Bruckler made 10 saves in the final period to preserve the victory.
Wisconsin returns to action Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 for the Badger Hockey Showdown held at the Kohl Center. The Badgers take on Yale at 7:07 p.m. on Dec. 31 following the game between Clarkson and Ferris State at 4:07 p.m. On Jan. 1 UW will also play at 7:07 p.m. with the opponent to be determined by the previous night's results.
