University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Wisconsin
Gophers Fall to Badgers in Madison
2/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
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Feb. 7, 2014
MADISON, Wis. - For the first time in nearly two years, the Minnesota men's hockey program suffered a sweep on Friday night as Wisconsin picked up its second 2-1 win in as many nights at the Kohl Center. The two-game skid marks the first time the Gophers have been swept since Feb. 10-11, 2012 at Denver.
Minnesota (19-4-5 overall, 8-2-2-0 Big Ten) picked up a goal from Seth Ambroz, who leads the team with 12 goals this season. Five of Ambroz's goals have come in four games against the Badgers.
For the second night in a row, Wisconsin (16-8-2 overall, 6-4-1-0 Big Ten) took a first-period lead when Grant Besse scored his seventh goal of the year with 20 seconds remaining in the first period. Nic Kerdiles and Frankie Simonelli added assist on the goal.
Ambroz would bring the game back to even with his team-leading 12th goal of the year at 12:03 of the second period, slamming home a rebound on a Gophers' power-play after Jake McCabe was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Justin Kloos and Ben Marshall assisted on the goal.
Much like Thursday's series opener, the Badgers slipped in the deciding goal during the third period and then shut down Minnesota's offense. The duo of Kerdiles and Besse struck for the second time on Friday night just 4:33 into the third period when Kerdiles slipped ninth of the season past Wilcox. The goal would hold for the game winner.
But the story of the series was goaltending and both teams featured standout performances in net for the second night in a row. Adam Wilcox stopped 25 for the Gophers, falling to 18-4-5 on the year while Joel Rumpel made 28 saves to move to 13-3-1.
The Gophers return to Mariucci Arena next weekend for a Big Ten series against Michigan.
-Pride on Ice-
