Badgers Lose to No. 4 Eagles
October 27, 2002 | Men's Hockey
Wisconsin (3-2-0 overall, 0-0-0 WCHA) took on the fourth-ranked Boston College (4-0-0, 0-0-0 HEA) last Friday night in its first road game of the season. It was the second game this season against a ranked opponent for Bucky since beating 12th-ranked Northern Michigan 4-3 on Oct. 12. The Eagles struck quickly, tallying twice in the opening four minutes of the game. The UW was forced to make two goaltending changes in the first 4:06 of the game as senior Scott Kabotoff (Strathcona, Alberta) was pulled at 3:45 after yielding two full-strength goals at the 1:46 and 3:45 marks. Sophomore Bernd Bruckler (Graz, Austria) was in net just 44 seconds before the home team extended its lead to three goals. The goal was a rebound tally which beat Bruckler high. Kabotoff went back in net at the 4:29 mark.
Leading 3-1, the Eagles weren't finished as rookie Patrick Eaves, son of UW coach Mike Eaves, scored his second of the night and sixth of the season. The Badgers were outshot 14-4 and trailed 4-1 after the first period. It was the fewest shots on goal in a period for the UW since a 3-2 loss to Denver on Feb. 16, 2002
A pair of UW rookies teamed up for the Badgers' first score as A.J. Degenhardt (La Crosse, Wis.) notched his first goal as a Badger, beating BC netminder Matti Kaltianien gloveside. Classmate and defenseman Tom Gilbert (Bloomington, Minn.) assisted on the play, his fourth of the year.
The Badgers settled down in the second as Kabotoff stopped all 11 of BC's shots, including three Eagle power-play opportunities. After the 7:57 mark of the first period, the UW defense held BC scoreless and 0-3 on the man advantage.
Senior Brad Winchester (Madison, Wis.) netted his third goal in five games, a four-on-four conversion, with 2:46 left in the game. That ended the scoring for the night with BC winning 4-2 and improving to 4-0. The Badgers fell to 3-2-0 and play their second Hockey East member in as many nights on Saturday vs. Northeastern.
