Nov. 20, 2009
Box Score | Box Score 
ST. CLOUD, Minn.-The Badger men's hockey team (6-4-1, 4-4-1 WCHA) dropped its first of two games against the St. Cloud State Huskies (5-4-2, 4-2-1 WCHA) Friday night, 4-1. The Badgers' lone-goal came from senior tri-captain Blake Geoffrion (Brentwood, Tenn.). The Badgers and the Huskies will square off again tomorrow night at 7 p.m., as UW looks to even the series against SCSU.
The Huskies struck first at the 14:52 mark of the first period. After a centering past hit a Badger defenseman's skate, the puck managed to find the back of the net. The power-play goal was credited to Husky senior forward Ryan Lasch.
However, this season, the Badgers have been very consistent at responding. This proved to be true Friday night. On a Badger power play less than four minutes later, UW tied the match after Blake Geoffrion notched his seventh goal of the season. Junior defenseman Brendan Smith (Mimico, Ontario) found a slashing Geoffrion in the slot, and, from there, the tri-captain cashed it in past SCSU goalie Mike Lee. This was Smith's ninth assist on the year. Freshman defenseman Justin Schultz (West Kelowna, British Columbia) tallied the secondary assist. This evened the score at one with just over 10 minutes to go in the first.
The Badgers continued their great shots-on-goal production, outshooting St. Cloud State 16-8 in the first. Both teams were also one-for-two on the power play. Heading into the second, the game remained locked up at one apiece.
With 13:36 left in the second, the Huskies took their second lead of the night after a slap shot by SCSU forward Drew LeBlanc put the Huskies on top by one.
This concluded the scoring in the second period. The score was close, as was the rest of the game. Both teams attempted 10 shots-on-goal in the period, and both teams were one-for-three on the power play up to that point. Heading into the final period, St. Cloud State edged the Badgers 2-1.
Two goals were scored in the final period, both by the Huskies. The first goal came with just under one minute remaining. It was an empty-net goal, scored by Husky forward Garrett Roe.
The second came with 21 seconds left. Lasch scored his second goal of the game off of a Badger turnover. This cemented the 4-1 victory for the Huskies. A silver lining in the loss was that Wisconsin kept up its great shot productivity, outshooting SCSU 43-23 in the contest.
Badger goaltender Brett Bennett fell to 4-3-0 on the year, but still managed to register 21 saves on the night. Husky goaltender Mike Lee stopped 38 Badger shots, as his record rose to 1-2-1 on the year.
The Badgers seek to avenge this loss tomorrow night, as they square off again against SCSU. The puck will drop at 7 p.m.
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Brady Hartung, UW Athletic Communications
