Street, Turris Help Badgers Down Robert Morris, 7-2

Madison, Wis. (from UWBadgers.com)

Two Badgers scored two goals each, as the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team toppled Robert Morris, 7-2, in their home-opener on Friday at the Kohl Center. Ben Street (Coquitlam, B.C.) and Kyle Turris (New Westminster, B.C.) both tallied two goals and two assists in the Badger win, earning four points apiece.

Wisconsin jumped to an early lead with Street’s first goal coming less than thirty seconds into the game. Kyle Klubertanz (Sun Prarie, Wis.) and Turris tallied assists on that goal, bringing the Badgers up 1-0. The Badgers slipped two more pucks past Colonial goaltender Christian Boucher in the first period, both on the power play. Klubertanz scored his ninth goal as a Badger, which was assisted by Patrick Johnson (Madison, Wis.) and Cody Goloubef (Oakville, Ontario). Freshman Ryan McDonagh (Arden Hills, Minn.) scored his first career goal for Wisconsin with eight minutes left in the first. Street and Jamie McBain (Fairbult, Minn.) colleted assists on McDonagh’s goal. Wisconsin entered the first intermission with a 3-0 lead.

The second period was a physical battle as twelve penalties were called. Another two goals were scored in that period. Robert Morris’s Jason Towsely cut the Badger’s lead to 3-1, with an assist from Nathan Longpre. The stanza was highlighted by a goal from Turris with less than four seconds left to play. The freshman took a slap-shot from the right boards as he was skating down the wing, sending the puck over Boucher’s right shoulder. Brendan Smith (Mimico, Ontario) earned the assist on Turris’ goal, which brought the Badgers up 4-1.

An additional four goals were scored in the final period of play. Turris and Street recorded their second goals of the night, in addition to a goal by sophomore Blake Geoffrion (Brentwood, Tenn.). Robert Morris scored the final goal of the game with a 5-on-3 advantage.

Both Turris and Street collected four points in the Badger’s home-opener. Klubertanz earned three points against the Colonials. Notably, all six Wisconsin defenders tallied a point in the match-up. Turris now has four career goals in only three games. The freshman also has six assists on the season.

Badger goaltender Shane Connelly stopped 24 shots, while Boucher stopped 22 for Robert Morris. Wes Russell, who protected the Colonial’s net for the third period, made an additional nine saves.

Wisconsin was 4-for-9 on the power play and killed off 12 of its 13 penalties.