Badgers Drop Heartbreaker in OT
November 11, 2006 | Men's Hockey
The Wisconsin men's hockey team (4-6-2, 3-4-1 WCHA) lost to Denver 4-3 in overtime Saturday night in front of 15,083 fans at the Kohl Center. Freshman John Mitchell scored his first goal as a Badger which tied the game and sent it to overtime.
Denver opened the scoring at the 5:50 mark of the first period as Brian Gifford scored on a DU power play. In the second frame, DU's Ryan Dingle scored the first of his two goals at the 4:43 mark as he and Rhett Rakhshani ran a two on one fast break after a Badger turnover on the power play. Dingle's short-handed goal gave the Pioneers the 2-0 lead.
Two minutes later Michael Davies (Chesterfield, Mo.) put the Badgers within reach as he scored during a Badger power play at the 6:43 mark of the second. Jake Dowell (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Andrew Joudrey (Bedford, Nova Scotia) notched helpers on the Davies goal.
Denver held a 2-1 lead heading into the third frame. Dingle then gave DU the 3-1 lead as he notched his second goal of the night at the 4:15 mark. Wisconsin responded with two goals in less than five minutes as Dowell and Mitchell (Neenah, Wis.) scored at the 7:15 and 11:31 marks respectively. Dowell scored on a Davies rebound, while Mitchell skated from Wisconsin's blue line through the Denver defense and was able to beat DU goalie Peter Mannino tying the game 3-3 with just over nine minutes to play.
Wisconsin had three shots on goal during the overtime period including a Davies break away in which his one on one wrist shot was stopped by Mannino. With only 15 seconds left in the overtime period, Rakhshani scored the game-winner off a Dingle assist as he led a Denver fast break in the waning seconds.
UW goalie Brian Elliott (Newmarket, Ontario) finished with 33 saves, while Mannino ended the night with 39. The Badgers were 1-for-7 on the power play, while Denver was 1-for-4 along with the short-handed goal by Dingle.
Joudrey notched two assists on the night adding to his team-high nine, while Davies recorded a goal and an assist. Blake Geoffrion (Brentwood, Tenn.) tallied his second assist, while Dowell scored his team-high eighth goal.
The Badgers next travel to Minnesota to take on the Gophers Saturday and Sunday Nov. 18-19. Game time is set for 6 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday.
