MADISON, Wis. – In its final regular season game of the season, the Wisconsin men's hockey team fell to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 6-1, on Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
Notre Dame (10-21-1, 4-17-1 Big Ten - 14 points) scored twice in the first period and 7:44 into the second to take a 3-0 lead. At 16:44 of the second, Wisconsin's (12-19-3, 7-15-1 Big Ten - 27 points) Anthony Kehrer got the Badgers on the board. The Irish scored three more times, including once in the second period and twice in the third, to take home a 6-1 victory.
How it Happened
Notre Dame got on the board first at 4:50 into the opening period on a shot from Niko Jovanovic.
The Fighting Irish doubled their lead with five seconds remaining in the first on a power-play goal from Justin Janicke.
Cole Knuble made it a 3-0 game for ND at 7:44 into the second.
Graduate student forward Kehrer got Wisconsin on the board 16:35 into the second in his final regular-season game at the Kohl Center. From center ice, junior forward Jack Horbach slid the puck to junior forward Tyson Dyck at the right side of the ND blue line. While falling over, Dyck sent a pass behind him toward the net, which deflected off an Irish skater into the Notre Dame goalie's pads. Kehrer picked up the loose rebound and shot the puck home to tally his first goal of the season.
Nine seconds later, Notre Dame regained its three-goal lead at 16:44 after Danny Nelson found the back of the net.
In the third period, the Irish lit the lamp two more times, once at 7:36 into the frame and again on a short-handed empty-net goal at 15:16 into the frame, to earn a 6-1 victory.
Wisconsin went 0-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 32-24 advantage in shots on goal.
Notes to know:
- Tonight's contest was senior night as the Badgers honored four skaters who will finish their eligibility this season: defenseman
Daniel Laatsch, goaltender
Tommy Scarfone and forwards
Ryland Mosley and
Cody Laskosky. Sixth-year Owen Lindmak and fifth-year
Anthony Kehrer also played in their last regular-season home games
Straight from the rink
Head Coach Mike Hastings
On struggles with penalties
"Tonight, we had too few guys playing too many minutes trying to kill penalties. It fried us, it fried a little bit of our energy. You could tell it was kind of a blender towards the end because we had to share some of the minutes for our entire lineup."
On preparation for the playoffs
"Win or lose tonight, we are going to the playoffs, and that's a second season. You close the chapter on this season and the regular season and you move on to the next."
Graduate student defenseman Anthony Kehrer
On the Big Ten Tournament
"It's a new season, new chapter. You come to work on Monday and take a look at what's working and what's not and you grow. This isn't how we want to end our chapter – we want to keep writing our story. We're going to push, and we're going to get better and make sure we are ready."
Senior goaltender Tommy Scarfone
On moving forward
"We just have to turn the page now, take the positives and get ready for playoffs."
Up Next: The Badgers host the U.S. National Development Team Program's Under-18 team for an exhibition game on Sunday, March 2, at 6 p.m. Audio play-by-play can be found on 1310 WIBA as well as on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network app. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
Fans can buy tickets to the game
here.
