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Dig of the Badger overcomes the eye of the Tiger in 8-1 Wisconsin rout

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

Wisconsin beat RIT, 8-1 in the first semifinal game of the 2010 Frozen Four on Thursday evening.

by Pete Bublitz petblitz@yahoo.com

WATCH: Press Conference after Semifinal Game One

WATCH: Highlights from Day One at the 2010 Frozen Four WATCH: Highlights from Day Two at the 2010 Frozen Four

DETROIT -- Facing the underdog of the Frozen Four did nothing to lessen the drive of the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team as they shot their way to an 8-1 victory over the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers to advance to the NCAA Championship game.

Racking up a multi-goal output in each period, the Badgers saw the most significant contribution in scoring from #21 Derek Stepan, the sophomore who led his team in goals scored and shots fired (two and six, respectively), while also being credited with two assists.

It was Stepan who scored the second goal as a deflected shot from #17 Ryan McDonagh at 9:38 into the first period, while notching the Badgers’ final goal with assists from tri-captain Ben Street (#22) and Brendan Smith (#7) at 17:48 into the third.

The highest point total in the game went to Smith, however, who was credited with five assists.

Despite being ahead 2-0 going into the second, Wisconsin Head Coach Mike Eaves mentioned that the Badgers’ advantage on a series of power plays, three of which resulted in goals, “kind of was the turning point of the game.”

“Like Coach was saying… once the snowball kind of got moving, it just kept building and building,” said Stepan in a post-game conference.

It was Blake Geoffrion, tri-captain of the Badgers and a 2010 Hobey Baker finalist, who added that the possibility of the Tigers getting on the scoreboard left little room for relaxation. “The two-goal lead is the worst lead in hockey they say.”

“I mean, 2-0 isn’t really that bad. We were trying to focus on what we had to do to win that game,” said R.I.T. sophomore and Detroit native Cameron Burt (#18). “And the guys, we weren’t changing up anything. We knew we had to bear down and start making plays and get more comfortable on the ice.”

It was in that string of power plays that Geoffrion managed to knock in a goal and earn an assist, making it his third consecutive multipoint game of the 2010 tournament and being the only Badgers player on the roster to earn at least one point in each of the three games so far.

Engaged in two-game point streaks for the Badgers are Andy Bohmbach (#11), Aaron Bendickson (#13), Craig Smith (#15), McDonagh, John Mitchell (#24) and Jordy Murray (#28).

The power play streak in the second was a severe blow to an R.I.T. team that was already strained by frequent penalties in the first and would only boom in the next. The most significant incident came when #10 Mark Cornacchia received five minutes for a hit from behind plus a ten-minute game misconduct.

Overall, R.I.T. collected nine penalties that totaled 23 minutes while Wisconsin was boxed five times for a total of ten.

While acknowledging that the power plays secured the game for Wisconsin, R.I.T. Coach Wayne Wilson said that the overall system of the team was near flawless. “They were physically, I thought, stronger and quicker and really answered anything that we tried to generate.”

Wilson’s sentiments can best be reflected in the comparative offensive and defensive outputs. By the final buzzer, R.I.T. attempted a total of 38 shots, of which only 14 were on target, 9 were blocked by the Wisconsin defense, and 15 were off target. Meanwhile, the Badgers ratcheted up 79 total shots of which 37 were on target, 30 off, and 12 blocked by defense.

The sole scoreboard bright spot for the Tigers came at 19:32 into the second, when Tyler Brenner (#16) put in a front of the net shot on the team’s third power play of the game, assisted by Dan Ringwald (#6) and Andrew Favot (#28).

Faceoff possession also determined the flow of offense between the teams. In a total of 71 faceoffs, 42 were won by Wisconsin compared to R.I.T.’s 29.

With any hope for this year’s NCAA title eliminated, Cameron Burt can only look back on the Frozen Four as a first-time experience and be able to absorb the atmosphere of a larger venue like Ford Field. “I’ll cherish it and I’ll tell it to my grandkids,” he said before somberly adding, “Hopefully I’ll get that far.”

 

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

 

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