HOUGHTON, MICH. – The Wisconsin men's hockey team secured its first victory against a ranked team this season after pulling past the No. 17 Michigan Tech Huskies 4-2 on Friday night.
Sophomore forward Cruz Lucius and senior forward Mathieu De St. Phalle each had stand-out performances for the Badgers (4-1-0), with both players tallying multiple points and helping in the come-from-behind victory. Lucius had a goal and a key assist, while De St. Phalle had two assists. Senior goaltender Kyle McClellan also stood tall in net, stopping 27 shots on goal.
After a quiet first period, freshman forward William Whitelaw opened the scoring three minutes into the middle frame with his first NCAA goal. Sophomore forward Tyson Dyck possessed the puck in Husky territory before passing to sophomore defenseman Tyson Jugnauth at the blue line. Jugnauth took a shot, which Whitelaw deflected past Michigan Tech goaltender Blake Pietila.
Nine minutes later, Michigan Tech (0-2-2) tied it up with a power-play goal scored by Ryland Mosley.
The Huskies took a 2-1 lead with four minutes left in the second period when Isaac Gordon found the back of the net for MTU's second power-play goal of the night.
To cap off an eventful 20 minutes,
David Silye scored his first goal in the Cardinal and White with just eight seconds left in the second period. De St. Phalle passed from Badger territory to
Cruz Lucius, who rushed the puck up the ice toward the Huskies' zone. Lucius led Silye in stride with a saucer pass past the MTU defense, who then beat the goaltender to tie the game.
The Badgers' game-winning goal came eight minutes into period three.
Mathieu De St. Phalle gave the puck to graduate student defenseman
Mike Vorlicky, who was stationed at the Huskies' blue line. Vorlicky passed across the edge of the zone to fellow defenseman
Daniel Laatsch. The junior took a long shot that deflected past the netminder and gave Wisconsin the lead for good.
With just over a minute left in regulation,
Cruz Lucius fired a lengthy shot from deep in the left corner of the Badgers' zone to seal Wisconsin's victory with an empty net goal.
Notes to know:
- UW's 4-1-0 start is its best since the 2017-18 team began with the same record through five games.
- This marks Wisconsin's first win in Houghton in 12 years, since a 4-1 victory on Jan. 29, 2011, though only played two games at MTU since that game.
- UMass transfer
Tyson Dyck played in his first game with the Badgers and earned his first point.
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David Silye and
William Whitelaw each netted their first goal in a Wisconsin uniform.
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Daniel Laatsch scored his first goal since notching a tally versus Minnesota on Feb. 11, 2023, his other game-winning goal.
Up Next: The Badgers continue their series at No. 17 Michigan Tech on Saturday at 5 p.m. The game is available to stream on flohockey.tv, while the contest will air on 100.9 FM on the radio and the Badgers app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
