Wisconsin barely managed to hold off Vermont in first-round action of the NCAA Tournament on Friday evening, edging the Catamounts 3-2.
Vermont went into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead, but after the Badgers notched two unanswered goals in the second, the Catamounts could not mount a comeback. The Badgers victimized the Vermont penalty kill, scoring all three of their goals on the man advantage.
The Badgers' Justin Schultz led off the scoring with a power-play tally 5:51 into the first, with assists from Blake Geoffrion and Derek Stepan. But Vermont came storming back less than two minutes later, courtesy of a Dan Lawson goal, assisted by Kevan Miller.
The Catamounts scored again with 4:06 remaining in the first frame, as Brian Roloff returned the favor to the Badgers' penalty kill, scoring on the man advantage with help from Sebastian Stalberg and Lawson.
Wisconsin's Michael Davies scored on the power play four minutes into the second, as Stepan and Brendan Smith tallied the assists. Geoffrion finished off the scoring with his own power-play goal, assisted by Schultz and Smith.
Badgers goaltender Scott Gudmandson made 28 saves on 30 shots to improve to 18-4-0, while Vermont's Rob Madore saved 39 of 42 shots, falling to 13-13-0.
Vermont went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Wisconsin scored on three of a whopping eight opportunities.
