MINNEAPOLIS – Mathieu De St. Phalle's and Cruz Lucius' four combined goals helped lead the No. 14 Wisconsin men's hockey team to a 5-2 upset victory over No. 1 Minnesota in Minneapolis Thursday night.
The Badgers (6-1-0) fell behind just 15 seconds in, but capitalized on a power play under two minutes later and pushed the play all night.
Senior forward De St. Phalle and sophomore forward Lucius each netted two goals, while De St. Phalle had his third consecutive multi-point night with three points on the evening. Sophomore defenseman Ben Dexheimer also had a spectacular performance at the blue line, setting a new career high in points with his three assists.
The Gophers (3-2-0) got things going early, with Jaxon Nelson opening the scoring.
Wisconsin responded quickly on the power play. Senior forward David Silye possessed the puck at Minnesota's right circle, then passed to Ben Dexheimer who was stationed at the top of the zone. Dexheimer took a shot, which was blocked by a Gopher player. Mathieu De St. Phalle spotted the puck in front of the net and floated it past the goaltender to score his second power-play goal in as many games. It was the first allowed by Minnesota on the season.
The Badgers scored again with less than 10 minutes left in the first period. From the Gophers' blue line freshman defenseman
Joe Palodichuk passed to
Mathieu De St. Phalle, who then made another pass backward to find
Cruz Lucius. Lucius skated to the top of the Minnesota zone and sunk a long shot into the net for his first of the evening.
Minnesota tied up the game halfway through the second period when Charlie Strobel beat goaltender
Kyle McClellan.
Senior forward
Carson Bantle reclaimed the lead for the Badgers with 3:30 remaining in the middle frame. From deep in Wisconsin's zone, sophomore forward
Jack Horbach sent an airborne pass up the ice to frosh forward
Sawyer Scholl. Horbach passed to Bantle on his left, who skated in and stickhandled past goaltender Justen Close for the finish.
One minute later,
Mathieu De St. Phalle doubled the Badgers' lead.
Joe Palodichuk passed from the top of the Minnesota zone to
Ben Dexheimer, who skated around the net and made a short pass through the crease to De St. Phalle. De St. Phalle then took a swift shot past the right glove of the netminder for his second tally of the night.
With five minutes left in the final frame,
Cruz Lucius found the back of the net yet again to seal the deal for Wisconsin.
Notes to know:
- Wisconsin's 6-1-0 start marks its best first seven games since the 2000-01 team opened 7-0
- Wisconsin improved to 3-2-0 in its last five games against a No. 1 Minnesota team
-
Mathieu De St. Phalle posted his third consecutive multi-point game with three points (2g, 1a)
-
Cruz Lucius tied his career high with two goals in one game (last versus Bemidji State - Oct. 13, 2023)
-
Ben Dexheimer set a career-high in single-game points with three assists
Up Next: The Badgers continue their series at No. 1 Minnesota on Friday at 8 p.m. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network with streaming on the Fox Sports App, while audio play-by-play will be available on 1310 WIBA, the Badgers App or The Varsity Network App. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram @BadgerMHockey.
