FIRST PERIOD SCORING:

- St. Cloud took avery early lead at the 29-second mark, as Andreas Nodl scored his 18th goal of the season, dragging the rebound from an Andrew Gordon shot out of the reach of Brian Elliot, then sending it in far side.

-The Badgers tied it up at 12:39 on a goal by Jake Dowell, his 19th of the season. Dowell took a feed from Ross Carlson and went to his backhand to slip it in short side on Bobby Goepfert.

SECOND PERIOD SCORING:

- The Huskies took the lead at 3:18 on Ryan Lasch's 16th goal of the season, a power-play tally. Lasch was stationed right on the left post to knock it in the back door off a pass from Dan Kronick and put the Huskies ahead.

- St. Cloud extened its lead at 10:20 on the ninth goal of the season by John Swanson, who scored on the power play. With the puck loose during a scramble in front of the Wisconsin net, Swanson got the puck on his backhand and sent it home.

- The Badgers cut the lead back to one at 18:38 on a power-play goal by Andy Brandt. Brandt came skating down the middle, took a nice centering feed from Jack Skille and sent it home to make it 3-2 in favor of the Huskies.

THIRD PERIOD SCORING:

- Wisconsin tied the game at 13:00 on the eighth goal of the season by Jack Skille. Andrew Joudrey took a backhand shot from the slot that deflected off the stick of an SCSU defenseman and also hit Skille on its way in.

OVERTIME SCORING:

- Ben Street scored his th goal of the seaon at 4:51 of overtime to give Wisconsin the win, fighting to keep control of the puck against the St. Cloud defense, and then sliding a backhand behind Bobby Goepfert.

FIRST PERIOD NOTES AND THOUGHTS:

- This is definitely one of the best-attended consolation games I've ever seen, but the atmosphere certainly isn't much better than any other third-place contest I've seen. I think the "Small Fries" game got more of a reaction than most of the action in the first period.

- Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves started Brian Elliott in net so that he could start his last game as a senior, but had it in mind to play Shane Connelly for most of the game. Thanks to Andreas Nodl, however, Elliott's final appearance didn't work out the way he would have liked. Given what happens with the Badgers after this one is over, that's strangely fitting.

- Bobby Goepfert does not look sharp today for the Huskies. He's managed to stop eight of the nine shots he saw in the opening frame, but he appears to be fighting the puck a bit, which could be a problem, since this game does have NCAA tournament implications for St. Cloud, which is currently out of position for a No. 1 seed, but can get back in with a win. Bob Motzko said yesterday that a No. 1 seed isn't as important as it used to be when there was a first-round bye involved, but there's no question that the Huskies want to be in the best possible position for the tournament as they look to get their first-ever win in the D-I tournament.

SECOND PERIOD NOTES AND THOUGHTS:

- I've got to be honest here: I appreciate the PA announcer's attempts to make things lively, but his calls really don't do anything for me, especially not the "Let's play some old time WCHA Hockey." Nice sentiment, but for me, it's a bit much. As far as I'm concerned, it just doesn't measure up to the stately voice of Jim Prior booming out, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Hockey East, the team's are ready, so...let's play hockey!" I think it's the end part that's a bit off to me. "Old Time Hockey" or "WCHA hockey" would be better, or just "hockey."

- Goepfert seemed a bit more settled in the second period, and is doing a nice job for St. Cloud. This is definitely an important game for SCSU to into the NCAA tournament, and they're clearly taking it very seriously.

As for Wisconsin, they're still no offensive juggernaut - which is why this is their last game of the season, but they are goingout with class, win or lose. This is a hard game to play in, but the Badgers have approached it with dignity, and will end the season with their heads high.

THIRD PERIOD NOTES AND THOUGHTS:

- A very scary moment for the Huskies in the seventh minute of play in the third, as Bobby Goepfert took a slapshot in the collarbone. He managed to stay up long enough to challenge another shot, but was prone on the ice after the whistle, and needed some time to get back to his feet. He did, however, continue to play.

- Amazingly, when it was announced that the game could end in a tie, a loud chorus of boos rose from the crowd, as the interest in this game has grown over the course of the contest. It speaks well of the Badgers and Huskies and the way they've played this afternoon that the crowd was ready to go through full-length overtimes, and didn't just want to get on to the North Dakota-Minnesota game. Or maybe they wanted a shootout. Who knows?

- Again, it deserves to be said that the Badgers and Huskies did a phenomenal job of producing a compelling game despite it being a consolation contest. This is definitely the best consolation game I've ever seen, and it should only get bigger, better and more intense as we head into tonight's WCHA championship game between Minnesota and North Dakota.

Check back in a while for a feature on the game. For now, I'll see you at 7:07 CT.