MADISON, Wis. -- The Badgers (12-14-2, 7-13-2 WCHA) came out Saturday night with confident and aggressive play, but were held to just one goal and fell 2-1 to St. Cloud State (12-14-4, 9-10-3 WCHA) at the Kohl Center.
Two third-period goals from St. Cloud State erased a 1-0 Wisconsin lead late in the game as the Badgers dropped their second straight contest to the Huskies.
After a scoreless first period, sophomore Frankie Simonelli (Benseville, Ill.) tallied his second point of the weekend on a power-play goal 3:54 into the second period. Freshman Joseph LaBate (Eagan, Minn.) passed the puck to Simonelli, who was sitting on the blue line. Simonelli then rocketed a shot on goal that made it through a crowd of players and into the back of the net.
The goal gave the Badgers their first lead of the weekend.
At the end of the second period, the score remained 1-0 Wisconsin with the Badgers holding dominating leads in faceoffs won (26-12) and shots on goal (24-10) over the Huskies. They also produced numerous scoring chances through the first 40 minutes, but failed to beat SCSU goalie Mike Lee.
Just 57 seconds into the final period however, the Huskies tallied the equalizer. Exactly 14 minutes later, Jarrod Rabey scored for St. Cloud and the Huskies took the lead.
A furious Badger attack in the final five minutes gave Wisconsin scoring opportunities but none produced a second goal against Lee and the Huskies.
"We had chances. We just couldn't find a way to put anything in and that's frustrating," junior Justin Schultz [West Kelowna, B.C.] said of Lee. "He's a good goalie.
Lee finished the game with 40 saves, while Wisconsin freshman goaltender Landon Peterson (Oregon, Wis.) collected 21.
Overall, the Badgers out-shot St. Cloud, 42-23, including 18 shots in the third period and eclipsed the 40-shot mark for the first time this season.
The Badgers finished 1-for-3 on the power play while St. Cloud went without a power-play chance.
"We're going to come back, and we're going to get right back to the drawing board, and we're going to push each other harder," head coach Mike Eaves said. "That's the only way we're going to get out of this thing."
Wisconsin has next weekend off from competition before welcoming Denver to the Kohl Center Feb. 17-18 for the final home regular-season series of the year.
