It had been 16 years since the Wisconsin Badgers had won an NCAA Tournament game and made a regional final. That drought was snapped on Thursday evening, as the Badgers used a four-goal third period to beat Dartmouth 5-1 to advance in the NCAA Tournament.
Wisconsin opened the match with an early power-play goal from Simon Tassy just 2:52 into the game, which Dartmouth matched with a Hank Cleary goal midway through the first period. From there, it was mainly the Badgers on the attack, and Wisconsin had
several opportunities to pull away with a goal, but couldn’t convert on their 16 other shots in the first two periods.
They had outshot Dartmouth 17-8 through the first 40 minutes, but the score remained tied at 1 apiece going into the third period. That’s when things ultimately broke open, as Jack Horbach scored the go-ahead goal after an error from Dartmouth to put Wisconsin up 2-1 nearly midway into the third period.
Wisconsin remained in control from there, and a Simon Tassy goal four minutes later (his second of the game) gave the Badgers a key two-goal lead. Dartmouth, which hadn’t been able to generate much offense all game, gave up a pair of empty-netters in the final minutes for Wisconsin to take a 5-1 victory into the next round.
Now, the Badgers will take on a familiar foe, as the Michigan State Spartans await in the regional final with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line. The No. 3 overall seed in the tournament, Michigan State beat UConn 2-1 on Thursday to advance.
The two teams will face off on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
