Wisconsin scored twice in a 27-second span in the first period and Daniel Hauser made 21 saves en route to a 2-1 win over No. 2 North Dakota on Thursday in the first Frozen Four semifinal at Las Vegas.
Simon Tassy and Ryan Botterill netted the quick-fire goals for the Badgers (24-12-2), who shrugged off North Dakota’s last-minute tally to move within one win of their seventh national championship and first since 2006.
The Badgers will face Denver in the final on Saturday after the Pioneers edged No. 1 Michigan 4-3 in double overtime later Thursday night.
Hauser outdueled North Dakota’s Jan Spunar (35 saves) in a battle of freshman goalies, making 12 stops in the second period. Spunar and the Fighting Hawks (29-10-1) shut out both Merrimack and Quinnipiac in the Sioux Falls, S.D., regional to reach the Frozen Four for the first time since 2016.
For North Dakota, Ellis Rickwood broke Hauser’s shutout bid with 51.8 seconds left in regulation.
Wisconsin finished with a dominant 37-22 advantage in shots and went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Hauser set the tone for a Wisconsin-dominated first period 4:24 in, stopping North Dakota’s first shot on goal of the game when Tyler Young slipped a pass from behind the net to set up a point-blank chance for Cody Croal.
Denting the scoreboard first at 12:54, Tassy stepped into a wrist shot as he slid down into the right circle and received Vasily Zelenov’s feed out of a battle in the corner.
Botterill doubled the Badger lead at 13:21. Defenseman Ben Dexheimer — whose overtime game-winner was the difference against Michigan State in the Worcester, Mass., regional — made a diagonal feed out of his own end to Botterill, who broke in at the blue line and beat two defenders for a shot that trickled five-hole on Spunar.
After being outshot 18-4 in the opening stanza, North Dakota pressured out of the first intermission, and Hauser made a key stop on Will Zellers’ partial breakaway early in the second.
Wisconsin also killed off a two-man disadvantage for 1:57 before the halfway mark of the second period before the Badgers’ Oliver Tulk made up for a defensive-zone turnover with a perfect diving backcheck to disrupt Ollie Josephson’s potential try in the final minute.
One of North Dakota’s best chances in the third came with 8:30 left and while short-handed, as Cole Reschny cut through two defenders and clanked a backhand shot off the crossbar.
With Spunar pulled for an extra attacker, Dylan James’ wraparound attempt found the stick of Rickwood in front for a point-blank wrist shot goal atop the crease, but the Fighting Hawks got no closer than 2-1.
–Field Level Media
