Thriller between CC, Wisconsin ends in tie

MADISON, Wis. • It was only fitting that both goals in Saturday’s 1-1 tie between Colorado College and host Wisconsin came as a surprise.

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest was full of missed scoring opportunities.

“One-one is a real fitting end,” CC coach Scott Owens said. “It was one of those grueling, slug-it-out kinds of games.”

Wisconsin senior Ben Street’s goal in the third period forced overtime.

“We’re happy as heck to get a point,” Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves said.

Street’s goal came after a breakaway. But as he seemed to do all night, freshman goalie Joe Howe got a piece of Street’s initial shot.

The shot went off Howe’s glove, then the post, which sent the puck into the corner where Street corralled it along the goal line. Then he banked a shot in off Howe’s back.

“He’d stopped everything else we’d tried,” Street said of Howe’s 26 saves.

“We definitely have confidence in him back there,” said senior defenseman Nate Prosser, who scored CC’s only goal. “That’s big for us defensemen to know we can take chances and he’ll make the routine save.”

Not all of them were routine. Howe stopped two shots from close-range during the second period and stopped a couple of rebound attempts in the third.

“He seized the No. 1 job,” Owens said. “It was a real short discussion (Saturday morning) to decide to start him again.”

CC took a 1-0 lead in the first period. The Tigers (2-1-1, 1-0-1 WCHA) outshot the Badgers 15-6 and outhustled them to draw three penalties, including a 5-on-3 advantage Prosser would cash in.

Stephen Schultz passed to Prosser, who skated into the slot by the right faceoff circle.

“I shot it low and it just found its way in,” Prosser said. The puck went by two defenders and goalie Scott Gudmandson, who finished with 31 saves. “That’s the kind of goal that happens when you have two teams giving their all.”

CC is 8-1-1 in its past 10 games versus Wisconsin (0-1-1, 0-1-1) since 2006-07.

“It’s very satisfying to get three out of four points,” Owens said. “We could be greedy but this was a tough game.”

Young Tigers give and take
Wisconsin is bigger and older than most on the Colorado College roster, but through the first two games of this weekend’s road series in Madison, the Tigers scrapped with the Badgers.

“It’s the way they choose to play,” CC coach Scott Owens said. “They play an NHL style. But if they knock you down, you’ve got to get right back up. That’s part of the deal.”

During the first period on Friday, CC showed they were willing to scrum, with three players one each side exchanging roughing or grasping the facemask penalties only 7:25 into the contest. As the game went on, the physical exchange was more even.

“We had as many hits this year as we had the entire second half last season and the first two games,” Owens said. “We held our own.”

The physical play continued through the first two periods Saturday night, with neither team garnering a clear advantage.

The hits did take a toll right away on Friday.

Both team’s senior captains left the 3-2 CC win, the Tigers’ Mike Testwuide out with a mild concussion only 28 seconds into the contest. Testwuide got his bell rung by Badgers junior Ryan McDonagh on a clean, but certainly hard hit.

“I was just trying to set the tone of the game,” McDonagh said after Friday’s game.

 
Wisconsin’s Blake Geoffrion missed the final two periods as well. Neither played Saturday.

Testwuide is probable for next weekend’s home series against Michigan Tech. David Civitarese played in Testwuide’s place on the second line with junior Stephen Schultz and freshman Scott Winkler.

CC-Wisconsin connections continue
The Bob and Mark Johnson connections to CC and Colorado Springs, along with Owens’ childhood in Madison, are well documented. But the hockey connection between the two schools became even deeper over the summer when new Badgers volunteer goaltending coach Jeff Sanger took over.

Sanger is CC’s all-time leader with 76 victories (16 shutouts). His seven shutouts as a senior in 2001-02 is the school record. Sanger’s career goals-against average of 2.48 stood as an all-time best for CC until two-time All-American Curtis McElhinney graduated with a 2.32 goals-against average (2001-05).

Also worth noting: CC volunteer goaltending coach Terry Kleisinger played goalie for Wisconsin.