Badgers pummel Black Bears in opener

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MADISON, Wis. – For University of Maine junior goalie Matt DelGuidice and the Black Bears, the roof caved in early.

The University of Wisconsin’s Badgers scored four first-period goals in a span of 4 minutes, 58 seconds, including the first two just 28 seconds apart, and went on to post a 7-3 victory over the Black Bears in the first game of their best-of-three NCAA Tournament quarterfinal series.

Game two is Saturday at 8 p.m. (EST). If Maine wins, the third game will be Sunday at 8.

Wisconsin is now 33-9-1 while the Bears fell to 33-10-2.

The Badgers scored on three of their first seven shots on goal, capitalizing on defensive mistakes for goals by Rodger Sykes and Tom Sagissor and poor goaltending by DelGuidice for the third goal by Gary Shuchuk.

Maine Coach Shawn Walsh lifted DelGuidice in favor of Scott King to give DelGuidice a chance to regain his composure, and then sent DelGuidice back onto the ice a few moments later.

Defenseman Rob Andringa capped the flurry with another soft goal at the expense of DelGuidice, who had one of his worst nights as a Bear.

Chris Tancill scored on a breakaway at the 1:47 mark of the second period to give the Badgers five goals on their first 13 shots on goal.

Maine had not allowed five goals in a game since Lake Superior State tied the Bears 5-5 on Jan. 19. Maine had allowed just 41 goals in the 18 games before Friday’s contest.

Maine had a great chance to jump on top early when Kent Salfi’s shot rebounded out to Mike Barkley. However, Barkley shot high over the open net.

Sykes scored at the 5:05 mark off a three-on-one when Maine defenseman Jim Burke got trapped in the offensive zone.

Doug Macdonald broke down the right wing after taking a clear-out pass from Mark Osiecki and fed it across to the far post where Sykes lifted a 14-footer over DelGuidice and into the short side corner.

Twenty-eight seconds later, Shuchuk and Sagissor had the two-on-one when Maine’s Keith Carney got caught in the offensive zone.

Shuchuk fed it to Sagissor, who cut in on DelGuidice and backhanded the puck home at the 8:37 mark.

Shuchuk then took a cross-ice pass from Rob Mendel and took a 45-foot slap shot from the right wing that beat DelGuidice to the far (glove) side.

DelGuidice was off angle and had gone down prematurely.

Andringa’s goal came on another long drive as he took a pass from Dennis Snedden at the midpoint and his slap shot broke in off the pads of DelGuidice.

The Bears applied early pressure in the second period, but Tancill converted on the breakaway after the puck eluded Maine defenseman Claudio Scremin at the point.

Scott Pellerin got a goal back for Maine on a four-on-three at the 9:48 mark of the second period when his 25-foot drive deflected in off the body of Osiecki.

Steve Rohlik got that one back when he was set up nicely in front by John Byce and slipped a low shot between DelGuidice’s left skate and the left post.

Jim Montgomery answered for Maine while the Bears were shorthanded as he took a pass from Jean-Yves Roy on a two-on-one break, pulled the puck around Badger goalie Duane Derksen, and slid the puck into the open net.

The Bears scored another four-on-three power-play goal early in the third period to make it 6-3 as Martin Robitaille’s shot from a tough angle deflected behind Derksen off a Badger defenseman’s stick.

The gritty Bears totally dominated the first 11 minutes of the third period, outshooting the Badgers 8-2, but they missed a couple of great scoring chances that could have pulled them within two.

Badgers 7, Black Bears 3

Maine 0 2 1 – 3 Wisconsin 4 2 1 – 7

First Period – 1. Wisconsin, Sykes 3(Macdonald, Osiecki) 5:05; 2. Wisconsin, Sagissor 18 (Shuchuk, Tancill) 5:33; 3. Wisconsin, Shuchuk 38 (Mendel) 8:37; 4. Wisconsin, Andringa 8 (Snedden, Decker) 10:03; Penalties – Wisconsin, Andringa, cross-checking, 0:31; Maine, Burke, hooking, 1:48; Wisconsin, Hill, hooking, 11:46; Maine, Bellefeuille, hitting from behind, 15:17;

Second Period – 5. Wisconsin, Tancill 36 (una.) 1:47; 6. Maine, Pellerin 22 (Burke, Robitaille) 9:48; 7. Wisconsin, Rohlik 16 (Byce) 15:27; 8. Maine, Montgomery 26 (Roy) 19:15; Penalties – Wisconsin, Hill, high-sticking, 4:11; Maine, Bellefeuille, high-sticking, 4:11; Maine, Scremin, hitting from behind, 5:49; Maine, Montgomery, roughing, 8:14; Wisconsin, Kurtz, roughing, 8:14; Hill, Wisconsin, holding, 9:34; Wisconsin, Snedden, interference, 15:27; Maine, DelGuidice (served by Bellefeuille), tripping, 18:01; Wisconsin, Sagissor, slashing, 19:53; Wisconsin, Andringa, high-sticking, 20:00; Maine, Roy, high-sticking, 20:00

Third Period – 9. Maine, Robitaille 24 (Carney, Burke), :32; 10. Shuchuk 39 (Rohlik, Derksen); 16:00; Penalties – Wisconsin, Osiecki, interference, 7:07; Maine, Montgomery, 5-minute major, spearing, game disqualification, 11:22; Wisconsin, Sagissor, roughing, 11:22; Maine, Burke, high-sticking, 14:45; Maine, Lalonde, interference, 16:42; Maine, Roy, 10 minute misconduct, 17:38; Wisconsin, Richter, cross-checking, 18:06

Shots on goal: Maine 4-14-8 – 26 Wisconsin 12-13-11 – 36

Goaltenders: Maine, Matt DelGuidice; Wisconsin, Duane Derksen

A – 8,644