The Badgers are back

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UW men's hockey stuns North Dakota and advances to the NCAA championship game for the first time since 2010.

On Thursday evening, the UW men's hockey team upset No. 2 North Dakota to advance to the NCAA championship game for the first time in 16 years. In front of thousands of their fans at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the Badgers scored two goals in the span of 27 seconds in the first period and never looked back in a dominant Frozen Four performance.

Senior forward Simon Tassy got the scoring started with seven minutes left in the first period. Sophomore forward Ryan Botterill followed with a quick strike of his own, leaving North Dakota visibly stunned and giving UW the 2-0 lead. That score would hold until the final minute of the game, when the Fighting Hawks scored after pulling their goalie. But then UW's swarming defense closed the door on the 2-1 win, adding another chapter to the program's remarkable turnaround under head coach Mike Hastings.

Freshman goalie Daniel Hauser was a sensation, saving 21 shots on goal while thwarting North Dakota's five power plays. During a pivotal moment in the second period, a 5-on-3 opportunity for the Fighting Hawks turned into a 5-on-2 when Badger captain Ben Dexheimer went down with an injury after blocking a North Dakota shot with his ankle. The Badgers escaped unscathed, and Dexheimer later returned to the game (because, well, hockey players).

And so, these resilient Badgers - some may call them a Cinderella - advance to the championship game, ready to face either top-seeded Michigan or Denver on Saturday. There, they will aim to make history yet again. When the team won its last national championship in 2006, UW-Madison became the only school to ever have both the men's and women's hockey programs win NCAA titles in the same year. The women's team did its part last month. And at this point, who would dare doubt this team?