MADISON, Wisc. — A pair of power-play goals helped 15th-ranked Wisconsin snap #3/4 Notre Dame’s eight-game unbeaten streak to start the year as the Badgers added an empty net goal to win game one of the weekend series 3-0 at the Kohl Center (9,698).
With the loss, the Irish are now 7-1-1 on the season and 3-1-1-0 in Big Ten play, while Wisconsin improved to 6-5-0 (1-2-0-0 B1G).
Cale Morris finished with a season-high 32 saves, while Wisconsin’s Daniel Lebedeff made 22 stops to earn the shutout.
The Badgers were 2-for-2 on the power play, while the Irish were 0-for-1.
How It Happened
After his forecheck created a turnover deep in the Wisconsin zone, Jake Pivonka had Notre Dame’s best chance of the first period when he got a pass back from Tervor Janicke at the near post, but Daniel Lebedeff made the stop.
Cale Morris had a busy first period, turning aside 15 of the 16 Badger shots he faced. Cole Caufield gave Wisconsin a 1-0 lead after the first 20 minutes by putting a rebound in for a power-play goal at 17:10.
After early chances by the Irish to open the second, Wisconsin went to work on the power play and Roman Ahcan’s shot from the low slot doubled the Badger lead at 12:01 of the middle stanza.
The teams would head to the locker room with Wisconsin still holding the 2-0 lead.
Notre Dame generated a few more chances as the third period wore on but could not solve Lebedeff.
With Morris then pulled in favor of the extra attacker, Tory Dello rang one off the post before back-to-back Cam Morrison chances were thwarted.
Linus Weissbach added an empty netter from the neutral zone for the final 3-0 scoreline.
Up Next
- Notre Dame and Wisconsin close out their weekend series on Saturday night at 8 p.m. the Kohl Center.
- The game will be streamed via BTN+ ($).
Notes
- Notre Dame’s unbeaten streak to open the season was snapped at eight games (7-0-1), which marks the best unbeaten streak to start the season in program history.
- Friday night’s loss also marked Notre Dame’s first loss at the Kohl Center, where the Irish are now 5-1-1 all time.
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