The Wisconsin men's hockey squad raced out to a big lead on Friday night, but No. 16 Michigan fought back with a vengeance and the Wolverines clawed out a 7-4 win over the Badgers at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin began the night strong, surging out to a 4-1 lead following Jedd Soleway's goal at 2:21 of the second period. Earlier, Badgers star Grant Besse had added back-to-back goals.
Alas, Wisconsin's large advantage was short-lived.
In a flurry, Michigan scored six unanswered goals. The Wolverines (14-7-0 overall, 6-1-0 Big Ten) didn't relent to any extent until star Justin Selman tallied his third goal of the evening, making the score 6-4 in favor of Michigan midway through the third period. Selman's first career hat trick was hardly Michigan's only highlight of the night; sophomore Alex Kile tallied his 11th goal of the season just before Selman's final tally.
The Wolverines added an empty-net goal with 1:08 to go.
Wisconsin lost despite scoring a season-high three power-play goals. Also of note, Wisconsin junior defenseman Kevin Schulze had a career-high three points with three assists.
The Badgers (2-14-3 overall, 0-4-1-1 Big Ten) and Wolverines return to action at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Madison.
