HOUGHTON, Mich. – A pair of power-play goals helped the Wisconsin men's hockey team complete a road sweep of No. 17 Michigan Tech with a 5-2 victory on Saturday night.
The Badgers' (5-1-0) special teams had strong performances tonight, with three of five Wisconsin goals scored outside of five-on-five play. Senior forwards Mathieu De St. Phalle and Carson Bantle each scored a power-play goal, while graduate student defenseman Mike Vorlicky notched a short-handed, empty-net tally. Senior goaltender Kyle McClellan continued his streak of stellar performances in net, stopping 17 shots on goal.
The game started off scoreless until the final minute of the first period. Michigan Tech (0-3-2) got on the board first on a power-play goal scored by Logan Pietila.
Wisconsin battled back in the second period. Eight minutes in, Mathieu De St. Phalle lit the lamp on the power play. Senior forward David Silye passed to sophomore defenseman Ben Dexheimer at the blue line. Dexheimer took a shot, which De St. Phalle deflected past the right glove of Michigan Tech goaltender Blake Pietila.
The Badgers struck again five minutes later. Sophomore forward
Christian Fitzgerald took a shot and
Simon Tassy picked up the rebound. The sophomore forward skated around the back of the net and passed to freshman defenseman
Joe Palodichuk, who was stationed at the top of the Huskies' left circle. Palodichuk then blasted a quick one-timer past the netminder to give UW the lead, 2-1.
Wisconsin carried their momentum into the final frame, finding the back of the net on the power play just 28 seconds into the third period. From the side of Michigan Tech's net,
Mathieu De St. Phalle passed up the zone to
Ben Dexheimer. Dexheimer slid it down to
Carson Bantle posted up in front of the net. who then finished for the Badgers' second power-play goal of the night.
Less than a minute after, freshman forward
Sawyer Scholl tallied his first NCAA goal to extend UW's lead.
Simon Tassy took a shot that went over the net, but the puck bounced off the back glass back in front for Scholl to pick up the rebound and put the puck past the goalie.
The Huskies continued to fight, scoring one more goal seven minutes into the third period when Tyrone Bronte redirected a shot to beat goaltender
Kyle McClellan.
With three minutes left in the game, captain
Mike Vorlicky scored a short-handed, empty-net goal to seal the deal for Wisconsin, 5-2.
Notes to know:
- Wisconsin's 5-1-0 start marks its best since the 2004-05 team started with the same record.
- UW's three road wins already match last year's total.
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Sawyer Scholl scored his first NCAA goal.
- Senior and Michigan Tech transfer
Carson Bantle scored what proved to be the game-winning tally against his freshman-year school.
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Mike Vorlicky scored his first career short-handed goal.
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David Silye's two assists tie his career-high in one game (last versus Bemidji State on Dec. 10, 2021).
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Simon Tassy recorded his first career multi-point night with two assists.
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Ben Dexheimer tied his career high in points with two assists (last versus LIU on Nov. 11, 2022).
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Jack Horbach and
Zach Schulz each set new career highs in shots with four and two, respectively.
Up Next: The Badgers conclude their three straight weekends of road trips with a series versus No. 1 Minnesota in Minneapolis on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 26-27. Both games have a scheduled puck drop time of 8 p.m. and are available to watch live on the Big Ten Network. The audio play-by-play will be available on the Badger app or The Varsity Network. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
