Terriers Come Up Just Short In Showdown Finale
December 30, 2000 | Men's Ice Hockey
The Terrier hockey team scored a pair of third-period goals but it was not quite enough as it bowed to host Wisconsin, 3-2, on Saturday night (December 30th) in the championship game of the 12th annual Bank One Badger Showdown in Milwaukee.
The loss ended B.U.'s four-game winning streak as the team is now 6-9-1 overall.
In the meantime, Wisconsin, which won the tournament for the seventh time, improved to 13-9-0 overall.
After a scoreless first period, Wisconsin scored three times in the second period, as the Badgers dominated play. During the 20 minutes of action, the Badgers outshot the Terriers, 18-8, as it scored a shorthanded goal, an even strength goal, and a power play goal.
Andy Wheeler, who was voted the tournament's MVP, opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 10:43 of the period. Then, after Dave Hegert upped Wisconsin's lead to 2-0 with an even strength goal at 13:58, Wheeler scored his second goal of the game on the Badgers' power play with just one minute to play in the period.
"Our defense was jumpy out there during the second period," said Terrier head coach Jack Parker, whose teams have won this tournament twice in the past-in 1992 and again in 1995. "It's the first time this year that they have been that jumpy.
"I was a little concerned how we would come out in the third period," said Parker.
The Terriers answered the question as they stormed the Badgers, outshooting them 19-4 over the final 20 minutes.
Junior Dan Cavanaugh (Springfield) finally broke the ice for the Terriers when he scored his sixth goal of the season at 14:20.
Then, with the clock winding down, and his team trailing by a pair of goals, Parker pulled junior goalie Jason Tapp (Kelowna, BC).
The moved paid off when senior captain Carl Corazzini (Framingham) scored at 17:49 of the period. It was his 10th goal of the season and 56th of his career. It also brought his career point total to an even 100 in 131 games.
"I was happy with the resiliency we showed tonight," Parker said after the game. "In general, with the exception of the second period tonight, I thought we played hard in this tournament and we showed we have a competitive team.
"I was also happy with how Tapp played both nights," said the coach. "He gave us some real good goaltending."
The Terriers are off until next weekend when they host Boston College on Saturday night (January 6th) and travel to BC on Sunday night (January 7th).
They could be missing as many as four players on Saturday night-both sophomore forward John Sabo (Harding Township, NJ) and sophomore defenseman Freddy Meyer (Sanbornville, NH) are with the U.S. Junior Team at the World Junior Championships in Moscow. In addition, junior forward Jack Baker (South Boston) and senior defenseman Keith Emery (Belmont) could be sidelined by injuries-Baker with a right shoulder injury and Emery with a right hip flexor.
All four were missing from the lineup against Wisconsin on Saturday night, yet the Terriers still came within a goal of tying the Badgers.
