Wisconsin Badgers
Notre Dame
Freshmen, Finley shine in thrilling OT victory against Notre Dame
February 06, 2026 | Men's Hockey
Quinn Finley calls game in extra time; Luke Osburn, Grady Deering each score twice
MADISON, Wis. – Quinn Finley played the overtime hero in a back-and-forth contest as the No. 13/11 Wisconsin men's hockey team defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 6-5, on Friday night at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin (16-9-2, 9-8-0 Big Ten - 24 points) opened the scoring with a Luke Osburn power-play goal early in the first, before Grady Deering scored 20 seconds later to make it a 2-0 game. Notre Dame (5-11-3, 1-14-0 Big Ten - 5 points) added a power-play goal of its own, two minutes later, before Gavin Morrissey scored on the man advantage to restore UW's two-goal lead. ND struck once more, before Deering scored again to take a 4-2 Badger lead into the second frame.
Osburn scored again midway through the second to extend the lead, but the Fighting Irish stuck again to make it 5-3, heading into the third. The Fighting Irish scored twice in the third, once on the power play and again with an extra attacker with 1:09 left to tie the game at five and send it to overtime. Finley played hero for Wisconsin, 1:17 into the extra time, taking a Gavin Morrissey feed and converting a breakaway goal to give Wisconsin a B1G conference win.
How it Happened
First Period
The Badgers opened the scoring early, 4:50 into the first period, with a power-play goal from freshman defenseman Osburn.
OZZY STRIKES FIRST ⚡
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 7, 2026
Fourth goal of the year for the freshman!
🍎: Oliver Tulk & Blake Montgomery pic.twitter.com/YlYQPKJvC1
Twenty seconds later, at 5:10, freshman forward Deering extended UW's lead.
KEEP 'EM COMING DEER 😤
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 7, 2026
Fourth tally of the season for the forward (@DeeringGrady)
🍎: Ryan Botterill & Finn Brink pic.twitter.com/DwIVdUitXX
Notre Dame nabbed a power-play goal of its own, 7:35 into the first, from Evan Werner.
Sophomore forward Morrissey netted UW's second power-play goal of the night at 10:32.
FIRE US UP, GAV 🔥
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 7, 2026
Fourth goal of the year for the sophomore (@gavmorrissey7)
🍎: Quinn Finley & Christian Fitzgerald pic.twitter.com/m6J1INF9Nd
Danny Nelson struck for ND, 12 seconds later at 10:44, to make it a 3-2 game.
To cap off a high-scoring first period, Deering tallied his second goal of the night at 12:33, to help Wisconsin to its fifth four-goal period of the year.
DEER'S ON HATTY WATCH 👀
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 7, 2026
Second goal of the game for the freshman (@DeeringGrady)!
🍎 : Ryan Botterill pic.twitter.com/trycSjPJSl
At the end of the first period, a penalty was called on Wisconsin, but the Badgers killed it off to keep it a 4-2 game.
Second Period
The second period was quiet until Osburn scored his second goal of the game, 10:23 into the period, with a one-time shot.
BOOOOOOM!! 💥
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 7, 2026
What a SHOT! Ozzy nets his second of the night!
🍎: Oliver Tulk & Christian Fitzgerald pic.twitter.com/h6XsXFkUVL
At 18:16, Cole Brown scored for Notre Dame to make it a 5-3 contest.
In the final minute of the second, at 19:36, a penalty was called on Wisconsin that carried into the third, but UW killed it off.
Third Period
The Fighting Irish continued their comeback with a power-play goal from Werner, 6:10 into the third.
Wisconsin had a power-play chance at 8:45, but ND killed it off to keep the Badgers from extending their lead.
With the goaltender pulled, Notre Dame's Werner tallied his third goal of the night, 18:51 into the third, to tie the game at five and send it to overtime.
Overtime
Junior forward Finley scored the game-winning goal for the Badgers, 1:17 into overtime, to snap UW's six-game losing skid.
BOOOOOOM!! 💥
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 7, 2026
What a SHOT! Ozzy nets his second of the night!
🍎: Oliver Tulk & Christian Fitzgerald pic.twitter.com/h6XsXFkUVL
Wisconsin went 2-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-4 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 39-34 advantage in shots on goal.
Notes to know
-Wisconsin recorded its fifth four-goal period of the year in the first frame, and its fourth four-goal period against Notre Dame on the season
-UW remains undefeated in overtime this year with a 3-0-2 record, also winning in the extra time against Ohio State (6-5) on Nov. 15 and at then-No. 1 Michigan State (2-1) on Nov. 22
-Luke Osburn ranks second among freshmen defensemen scoring in the country with 18 points (5g, 13a) after his three-point night.
-This marks the sixth-straight game Wisconsin's played in front of at least 10,000 fans, both at the Kohl Center and on the road
-Spittin' Chiclets podcast producer Mike Grinnell and editor Elliot Fish were in attendance at tonight's game, filming for Chiclets University
Straight from the rink
Head Coach Mike Hastings
On the game-winning goal
"It was a big time play, and a big time finish by [Finley], but a really, really big time play by [Morrissey] to get him in. You need your difference makers to be different makers."
On getting back in the win column
"It's hard to win in this league. Tonight, six was enough, but we needed all six. So I think we did some good things offensively, and there are some things that we can obviously continue to work on."
Freshman forward Grady Deering
On leaving tonight with a win
"You can ask anyone in our room, the last six games weren't what we wanted, and the fact that we're coming out here with a win against those guys who played a heck of a game, coming back like that, it's big. It's tough to win in our conference, and we don't take that lightly."
Freshman defenseman Luke Osburn
On difference makers in tonight's game
"We had a lot of chances off the rush, but I think we went to the net really hard tonight. That's something that we haven't really been doing as much as we used to do these last six games. So I think continuing to go to the net hard will help us throughout the rest of the year."
Up Next: The Badgers continue their series against Notre Dame on Saturday, Feb. 7. The game starts at 7 p.m. and streams on B1G+. Audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA as well as on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey. Buy tickets here.
