Turnovers Costly In 4-2 Loss to Badgers

[Ryan Cardinal]

Turnovers Costly In 4-2 Loss to Badgers

The Golden Gophers fell back into some old habits as the competition level went back up in Madison against the Badgers, as Minnesota fell to Wisconsin by a 4-2 score in the first of two contests at the Kohl Center this weekend.

It didn’t take long for the Badgers to get on the board, as senior Blake Geoffrion scored his first of two goals on the night just 24 seconds into the game. He tipped a point shot by Ryan McDonagh past Minnesota goalie Alex Kangas to put Wisconsin in the lead by a 1-0 score.

Early in the second period, Minnesota would answer thanks to a four-on-one rush that was capped off by a beautiful pass from Jordan Schroeder to Mike Hoeffel, who tapped it in for his fourth goal of the season at 1:31 of the second period.

However, the game would not be tied for long, as the Badgers regained the lead for good thanks to a horrendous Patrick White turnover near the blueline in his own end. Defenseman Cody Goloubef took advantage of the gaffe and made the score 2-1 Badgers.

Geoffrion would get his second of the night and in the process, the Badgers scored another goal thanks to a turnover by a Minnesota forward. This time, Tony Lucia tried a cross-ice pass in the UW end but it was picked off. Geoffrion beat Kangas with a low slapshot that probably should have been stopped by Kangas.

White would redeem himself a bit midway through the third period as he scored his second goal of the season, this one coming on a power play. He, along with Lucia and Mike Carman, crashed the Badger crease and eventually got the loose puck past Badger goalie Brett Bennett.

Minnesota would play pretty well down the stretch and had a few chances to knot the game up, but Bennett stood strong in net for the Badgers and backstopped them to the win. Senior Ben Street capped the game off with a late tap-in goal during an odd-man rush by the Badgers.

Look for Kent Patterson to start in net on Saturday for Minnesota, who will need to generate more than just 18 shots if they hope to come out of Madison with a victory.