The Wisconsin Men’s hockey team put together a solid fifty-seven minutes of hockey but a couple of mistakes cost the Badgers a win against the second ranked Boston University as the tied in regulation with the Terriers 3-3
The Badgers had one of their best offensive showings getting thirty-two shots on goal and netting three of them
Wisconsin gained momentum early, putting pressure on Boston University’s goalie, Matt O’Connor who ended with twenty-nine saves.
The Terriers were the fist to strike when Brandon Fortunato scored at 7:53 with a nice slap shot from the point while on the power play.
The Badgers went into the second period down a goal but not for long as Kevin Schulze had a backhand tip for a shorthanded goal forty-four seconds into the second period.
With the score tied at one a piece Jedd Soleway got a pass from Morgan Zulinick and sniped a wrist shot into the top netting of the net to give the Badgers a one goal lead heading into the third period.
The Badgers lead was extended to two in the thrid period thanks to a blunder by O’Connor.
Matt Ustaski cleard the puck toward the BU goalie and he came out of the net to stop the puck and get it to a teammate. O’connor lifted the puck and it hit off of defenseman Brien Diffley and it bounced into the empty net.
Ustaski was credited with the goal for the Badgers.
The Badgers were up two goals on the second ranked team in the nation with just under three minutes to play and that is were the wheels came off.
Boston University pulled O’Connor right off the face off following the own goal for an extra attacker.
About one minute later, Ahti Oksanen received a pass in the slot from Cason Hohmann and reduced the lead to one after hitting the puck hit the post and went in.
The Badgers tried to frantically clear the puck but the Terriers held the zone but Oksanen found the back of the net again with 2.2 seconds left to tie the game.
In the overtime Rumpel stood strong to maintain the tie. He had 36 saves on the night.
Overall, the Badgers have to be proud of their performance and focus on the positives, something Head Coach Mike Eaves stressed after the game.
“We as a staff, we were just on the bench looking at each other (thinking) ‘we’re doing good things.’ Guys on the bench had great feedback for each other, holding each other accountable, talking, letting their teammates know on the ice what’s going on. It was a lot of good things.”
The 2-11-2 Badgers finish up their two game series with Boston tonight at the Kohl Center.
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