PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In its first NCAA tournament regional semifinal game since 2021, the Wisconsin men's hockey team absorbed a season-ending, 3-2 defeat in overtime to defending national champion Quinnipiac on Friday evening at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Quinnipiac (27-9-2) opened the scoring early in the first period before Wisconsin's (26-12-2) Quinn Finley and Joe Palodichuk scored two quick goals at the start of the second to take a 2-1 lead. The Bobcats found the back of the net with 90 seconds remaining in the middle frame to tie it. The third period was quiet as the teams skated into a sudden-death overtime period tied at two. Nine minutes into overtime, QU lit the lamp to end the game and advance to the NCAA tournament regional final.
Quinnipiac got on the board first 2:12 into the opening period on a shot from Christophe Fillion.
Wisconsin responded 1:46 into the second period with an unassisted goal from freshman forward Quinn Finley. With Simon Tassy pressuring, a QU skater tried to send the puck up the ice from behind his goal line, but Finley came rushing into the zone and intercepted the pass. He then took a quick shot from the slot to score his 10th goal of the season.
Freshman defenseman
Joe Palodichuk gave the Badgers the lead 1:15 later. Freshman forward
Owen Mehlenbacher passed along the left side boards of QU territory up to Palodichuk at the blue line. He then passed across the ice to
Ben Dexheimer, who sent the puck right back to Palodichuk. The freshman defenseman skated along the top of the zone and down to the bottom of the left circle before taking a shot. Palodichuk collected his own rebound and put home a wrap-around chance for his third goal of the year.
The Bobcats tied the game up with 1:32 remaining in the middle frame after Victor Czerneckianair shot a rebounding puck past UW goaltender
Kyle McClellan.
Wisconsin received its first and only power-play opportunity with 5:03 remaining in regulation but could not convert on any scoring chances to take the lead.
Third-period chances by
Cruz Lucius, stopped on a toe save by Qunnipiac goaltender Vinny Duplessis, and
Christian Fitzgerald, a shot wide from the slot, could have decided it in Wisconsin's favor, but neither team scored in the remainder of the third frame.
QU found the back of the net 8:56 into the extra time on Czerneckianair's second tally of the evening to win the game and advance to the NCAA tournament regional final.
Wisconsin went 0-for-1 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 32-20 deficit in shots on goal.
Straight from the rink
Head Coach Mike Hastings
On tonight's overtime loss
"Tonight's a tough game. There's some guys that competed their tails off tonight, but it's a game of inches. I'd like to give credit to Quinnipiac to find a way to move on and wish them luck moving forward."
On senior goaltender Kyle McClellan's performance
"He's been a rock for us from day one. We challenged this entire group when we started the season asking them to be accountable and responsible for what they can do in their daily routine. Kyle exhibits qualities you want in any goaltender that you're ever going to have to try and win a championship. I thought he was outstanding tonight, he was outstanding at the beginning of the year and all the way through it. He did a lot of work with some support from his teammates, our nutritionist, our strength coach, but Kyle's the one who put the work in. I think you're starting to see, as everybody is in the country, what
Kyle McClellan is made of."
On a successful first season at Wisconsin
"I don't know if there were a lot of people that thought that this group would be able to attain the heights that they attained this year. As you can tell, they're a very prideful group. For myself, our staff and really our entire program, we're excited for what our future is. But, this is going to take some time to get over. These hurt, they leave some deep wounds. We'll learn from it and we'll be better for it. Wisconsin's a very special place, so we're proud of what we're about, where we're at and where we're going. What happened tonight didn't get us where we wanted it to, but we're proud of a really good season."
Graduate student defenseman Mike Vorlicky
On the emotions after tonight's loss
"It's tough to put into words. I gotta give Quinnipiac credit. They played a good game. It's hard to really describe it. Your season's over. It's tough. Love all those guys in there. Wisconsin's, for me, the best place to play. It's tough to end a season like that."
On the support from fans in Providence
"I thought the fan support tonight was awesome. Especially in the second period, we got some momentum there, and you could feel it. Credit to the fans in Providence, I think they did a great job. I know there's some history there with the Badgers, so I want to give thanks to them for coming out and showing support to us, it helped a lot tonight."
Freshman defenseman Joe Palodichuk
On the future of the program
"It's really exciting for me. To have the leadership group we had this year to put those rocks down and show us what leadership is like, and for coach to come in and be the leader he has been, there's nothing but good things to look forward to, really. The team we have, the kids we have returning are amazing. They're good kids, great players too – it's something I look forward to every day."
Notes to know:
-The Badgers' 26 wins this season are the most since the 2009-10 NCAA runner-up team won 28 games
