March 2, 2012
Wisconsin 4 , 4 Minnesota 1
Mariucci Arena • Minneapolis, Minn. | |
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| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | | Wisconsin | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | | Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | Scoring Summary
| | 1st | 17:59 | WIS | Barnes (R. Little, Zengerle) | | 2nd | 05:25 | WIS | R. Little (Zengerle) | | 2nd | 09:40 | WIS | Mersch (McCabe, Zengerle) | | 2nd | 15:43 | WIS | Zengerle | | 3rd | 18:58 | MIN | Sacchetti (Parenteau) | | Goaltender Summary
| Min | GA | Sv | | WIS | Rumpel (W, 11-9-2) | 60:00 | 1 | 26 | | MIN | Patterson (L, 23-12-1) | 40:00 | 4 | 11 | | MIN | Shibrowski | 20:00 | 0 | 5 | | Statistical Comparison
| WIS | MIN | | Shots on Goal | 27 | 20 | | Power Plays | 2-3 | 0-1 | | Penalties-Minutes | 4-8 | 6-12 | | |
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• Final Stats | Final Stats 
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Wisconsin men’s hockey team (16-15-2, 11-14-2 WCHA) played spoiler Friday night with a resounding 4-1upset victory over the No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers (23-12-1, 19-8-0 WCHA) at Mariucci Arena.
The victory was UW’s fourth win in a row and third in a row on the road.
The Badgers already knew they were headed on the road for playoffs next week, though with one of the most heated rivalries in college athletics on the line, Wisconsin forgot about records and put together one of their most impressive performances of the season.
Both teams fought off repeated attacks through most of the first period until sophomore Tyler Barnes (Eagan, Minn.) broke the tie with a goal on a rebound following a face off. Junior Ryan Little (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and sophomore Mark Zengerle (Rochester, N.Y.) assisted on the goal.
The second period featured UW’s opportunistic offense.
| Fast Facts | | • With four points Friday, Mark Zengerle now ranks fourth in the country with 1.45 points per game. His 36 assists are just one shy of the national lead. | | • The Badgers are now 2-1 against the Gophers this season with a win over then No. 1 Minnesota Nov. 11 | | • Wisconsin has five wins this season over top-10 teams. | |
With 14:35 left in the second, Little found the net himself this time, taking advantage of a Gopher turnover for a 2-0 lead. Zengerle grabbed another assist on the play.
Less than five minutes later, that Badgers again found the offensive charm, this time courtesy of Michael Mersch (Park Ridge, Ill.) on a power-play score. Zengerle picked up his third assist on the night with freshman Jake McCabe (Eau Claire, Wis.) also collecting an assist.
The biggest offensive spark was saved for last though, when Zengerle nabbed his fourth point on one of the most impressive goals for any Badger this season. With 4:17 left in the second, Zengerle undressed a Minnesota defenseman on the power play and finished for a goal on the end-to-end rush.
With 48 points, Zengerle now stands fourth among all skaters in the country at 1.45 points per game. His 36 assists are just one shy of the top mark in the nation.
Although the Gophers had outshot the Badgers 18-15 by the end of the second period, Wisconsin held a dominating 4-0 lead.
New Gopher goalie Michael Shirowski, in net for the first time in his career for the third period, held Wisconsin without a goal for the final 20 minutes. But despite a score from Minnesota with just over a minute left, four goals proved more than enough as the Badgers grabbed the victory.
Freshman Joel Rumpel turned in a stellar performance in goal Friday night, saving 26 shots while allowing just one goal.
Minnesota finished the game with 27 shots, compared to 20 for Wisconsin.
The Badgers converted 2-of3 opportunities on the power play while holding the Gophers 0-1 with the man advantage.
Despite the UW victory, Minnesota clinched the No. 1 seed for the WCHA playoffs and a share of the MacNaughton Cup after Minnesota Duluth fell at St. Cloud State.
The Badgers go for their fifth-straight victory and fight for a sweep over the Gophers on Saturday. Puck drop is 7 p.m. with live coverage on FSN+.
