The Wisconsin Badgers fell to the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, 3-2, at the Ralph Englestad Arena in Grand Forks this Halloween Friday.
Both the Badgers and the Sioux skated onto the ice with energy, hungry for a win. The Badgers have yet to win this season, while North Dakota comes home after their first win this season against Minnesota State on Oct. 18.
The first period was fast-paced and physical, but proved futile for both teams as the first intermission arrived with the score tied at 0-0. In the second period, Wisconsin put the first mark on the board, but North Dakota found the net to even the score soon after.
The teams repeated this UW score, North Dakota tie sequence again in the third, but the end
of the third proved to be the pivotal moment of the game. With five minutes left in the game, North Dakota scored the winning goal to top
Wisconsin 3-2.
Freshman Derek Stepan put Wisconsin on the scoreboard with his first collegiate goal and the first goal of the game just under two minutes into the second period. Sophomore Patrick Johnson found Stepan wide open in the slot from behind the UND goal to put the Badgers up 1-0.
The Fighting Sioux responded five minutes later when Brad Miller beat senior Shane Connelly with a short-side high shot to tie the game 1-1.
The Badgers regained the lead two minutes into the third. Sophomore Brendan Smith converted on the 4-on-3 power play off a pass from junior Michael Davies to reset the score at 2-1. Junior Jamie McBain was credited with the second assist.
North Dakota quickly evened the score again two minutes later with Andrew Kozak finding the net.
With 5:15 left in the game, Jason Gregoire capitalized on a power play to give the Fighting Sioux their first lead of the game. Gregoire scored North Dakota’s third goal after a faceoff near the UW blue line.
Wisconsin (0-6-1, 0-4-1 WCHA) tries again for its first win of the season as they face-off against North Dakota (2-3-0, 2-1-0 WCHA) again Saturday evening.
