Sixth-ranked Wisconsin defeats Air Force, 3-0

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. – Wisconsin goalie Kyle McClellan stopped all 27 shots he faced as the sixth-ranked Badgers beat Air Force, 3-0, in the first round of the Kwik Trip Holiday Faceoff at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisc.

Wisconsin (15-4-0 overall and 8-2-0 Big10) capitalized on a Falcon turnover to take the early lead. Ben Dexheimer set up Simon Tassy in the slot for a 1-0 Badger lead at 4:45 of the first period. Late in the first period, Badger William Whitelaw was called for a major penalty for a hit on Chris Hedden and the Falcons had a five-minute power play, but the Falcons were unable to score.

The Badgers clung to the one-goal lead until early in the third period when David Silye scored just 61 seconds into the final period for a 2-0 lead. Late in the game, the Falcons pulled the goalie and Silye scored a power-play, empty-netter with five seconds left to make up the final margin.

"I liked our energy," head coach Frank Serratore said. "We played hard, but we need to play a little smarter. The margin of error is so dang thin when you don't score any goals. They have a lot of high-end players, but we battled them well. I thought both goalies were really good. We had seven minutes of power play time early in the game and, especially against a good team like Wisconsin, you have to score. If we are going to beat the Wisconsin Badgers, we have to score on the power play. If we take advantage of that major, that could have been a game changer."

Wisconsin outshot Air Force, 38-27. Guy Blessing matched his season-high with 35 saves for the Falcons. Air Force was 0-for-2 on the power play while Wisconsin was 1-for-4.

Air Force (8-10-1 overall, 5-4-1 AHA) will face Minnesota-Duluth in the consolation game on Friday, at 4:05 pm CT at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisc.
--30--

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.