Wisconsin Badgers
Notre Dame
Late Fitzgerald goal helps No. 13/11 UW to sweep of Notre Dame
February 07, 2026 | Men's Hockey
Five Badgers score in 5-4 win
MADISON, Wis. – A goal 9:52 into the third period from Christian Fitzgerald broke a 4-4 tie as the No. 13/11 Wisconsin men's hockey team took down Notre Dame, 5-4, on Saturday night at the Kohl Center to complete a season sweep of the Irish.
Wisconsin (17-9-2, 10-8-0 Big Ten - 27 points) opened the scoring, 1:54 into the game, with a goal from Ben Dexheimer. Notre Dame (5-12-3, 1-15-0 Big Ten - 5 points) tied the game at 6:33, before Quinn Finley reinstated the Badger lead. The Fighting Irish tied the game at two at 13:28. With 23 seconds remaining in the first. Simon Tassy redirected a shot to take a 3-2 UW advantage into the second and snap an 11-game goal-scoring drought.
ND scored twice in the second, once at 8:22 and again at 10:19, to take a 4-3 lead, before Ryan Botterill tied the game at four at 13:35. Fitzgerald's game-winning tally came at 9:52 into the final frame to help UW to a 5-4 victory.
How it Happened
First Period
The first period was back-and-forth, with senior defenseman Dexheimer striking first for the Badgers at 1:54.
Call on Cap 🫡
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 8, 2026
Sixth goal of the year for the senior (@BenDexheimer)!
🍎: Quinn Finley & Vasily Zelenov pic.twitter.com/pT1bKzJgdH
Notre Dame answered at 6:33 with a goal from Michael Mastrodomenico.
Junior forward Finley reinstated Wisconsin's lead, 11 minutes into the first.
Fin-TASTIC! 🌟
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 8, 2026
Goal No. 12 for No. 19 (@QuinnFinley2)
🍎: Joe Palodichuk & Simon Tassy pic.twitter.com/4dMhYbuwcg
The Fighting Irish tied the game at two at 13:28 with a tally from Evan Werner.
With 23 seconds left in the period, senior forward Tassy redirected junior defenseman Joe Palodichuk's shot to give UW a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes.
TASSY TIIIIIIME ⏰
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 8, 2026
The senior (@SimonTassy) nets his eighth goal of the year!
🍎: Joe Palodichuk & Ben Dexheimer pic.twitter.com/awzlkJASzm
Second Period
Sophomore forward Adam Pietila found the back of the net at 1:16, but Notre Dame successfully challenged the goal for offsides, keeping it a 3-2 game.
At 1:47, Wisconsin had its first and only power play of the game, but it was unable to convert on any scoring chances to extend its lead.
The Irish got their only power-play chance of the night at 4:19, but Wisconsin got the kill.
Notre Dame's Danny Nelson tied the game at three, 8:22 into the second.
Jayden Davis gave the Fighting Irish a 4-3 lead at 10:19.
After the fourth goal, UW made a goaltending switch from sophomore Eli Pulver to freshman Daniel Hauser. Hauser made a perfect 13 saves the rest of the way to keep the Badgers in position to win.
Just over three minutes later, at 13:35, sophomore forward Botterill tied the game at four.
That'll do, Botts! 🙌
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 8, 2026
The sophomore with his eighth goal of the year
🍎: Adam Pietila & Luke Osburn pic.twitter.com/82xrBl6qkG
Third Period
Senior forward Fitzgerald picked a corner and scored the game-winning goal, 9:52 into the third, to help UW to a 5-4 victory and a four-game season sweep of Notre Dame. Gavin Morrissey stole the puck at the Badger blue line to start the play.
FITZMAGIC 🪄
— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 8, 2026
The senior's (@13Fitzgerald) 14th goal of the year is a B1G one!
🍎: Gavin Morrissey pic.twitter.com/wKzH4gS7jv
Wisconsin went 0-for-1 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill. UW finished the contest with a 29-29 tie in shots on goal.
Notes to know
-UW completed a season sweep of Notre Dame tonight, earning four wins and 11 of 12 Big Ten points available against the Irish: 7-4 on Dec. 5; 9-2 on Dec. 6; 6-5 (OT) on Feb. 6; and 5-4 on Feb. 7
-Luke Osburn is second among freshmen defensemen scoring in the country with 19 points (5g, 14a)
-Osburn also extended his point streak to four games (2-5=7)
-This marks the seventh-straight game Wisconsin has played in front of at least 10,000 fans, both at the Kohl Center and on the road
-Simon Tassy snapped an 11-game point and goal drought with a goal and an assist in the game
-UW defensemen scored three goals on the weekend after tallying just once in the prior six games
-Quinn Finley scored in both games of the weekend, ending a six-game goal and point drought during which the Badgers were winless
-Ryan Botterill extended his point streak to three games (1-3=4) by ending his eight-game goal-scoring drought
Straight from the rink
Head Coach Mike Hastings
On completing the sweep
"The game took a lot of turns tonight, again, good start through the first. I thought there was a lot of energy in the building, so I want to say thank you to the people who came out today. Guys stuck with it. As much as maybe Daniel [Hauser] has been through it here recently, to come in and shut the door the way he did – we needed him to."
On avoiding penalties tonight
"We've gone through a stretch here – there hasn't been a lot of love sprinkled around. It's been a bit of a grind. We just talked about making sure that we don't stack the chips any steeper than they need to be through frustration penalties, stick penalties."
Senior forward Christian Fitzgerald
On what changed defensively in the third period
"I thought our communication was big time. I thought we had different looks, maybe different areas where you might just extend the play and get it out of the zone. Guys are talking, we were making those small plays instead of making one more move or forcing a pass, and I think that was huge for us."
Sophomore forward Ryan Botterill
On the mindset coming into this weekend
"I think we were just positive all week. We just talked about staying together as a family and keeping working. We knew what we had to work on this week, and we did that, and then coming into the weekend, obviously, to get two wins is pretty huge for us. It feels good. "
Up Next: The Badgers travel to Columbus to face Ohio State on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13-14. Friday's game starts at 5:30 p.m. CT and streams on B1G+, while Saturday's contest begins at 6:30 p.m. CT and airs on the Big Ten Network. Audio play-by-play can be found on Fox Sports 1070 on Friday and 1310 WIBA on Saturday, as well as on the Badgers app and the Varsity Network app, both nights. You can also follow along on X/Twitter and Instagram at @BadgerMHockey.
