GRAND FORKS, ND.- Before the game, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux had been on a modest two game win streak that saw them come from behind in the third period in both games to get the win. However, it was UND’s turn to be taken out in the last stanza.

After trailing 2-0 going into the third period Saturday night in Grand Forks, The Wisconsin Badgers notched five third period goals, including three in the first 2:17 of the period, to pace a furious comeback win and to tally their first win of the season. The Badgers got two goal nights from senior Tom Gorowsky and junior captain Blake Geoffrion and both Jamie McBain and Derek Stepan added two points a piece to lead Wisconsin to the stunning come from behind victory.

“I just think that in the second half of the game they outplayed us, and they were willing to do the little things and they won most of the one on one battles,” said UND captain Ryan Duncan “A lot of credit to them; they capitalized on some opportunities there and scored in bunches and obviously it’s a pretty disappointing loss.”

Much like last night, both teams came out skating hard and the game continued with a fast pace in the first period and much like last night again, the Sioux peppered Connelly with shots to the tune of 15. Connelly stood tall again just as he did in the first period last night and held UND off the scoreboard making two huge and spectacular saves.

The first one came six minutes in after a great passing performance by the Sioux led to winger Matt Frattin being all alone to the left of the cage. As Frattin slapped at the puck towards the open net, Connelly lunged out with his left pad and made the save.

Then at eight minutes in, with the Sioux on the power play, Connelly made another dazzling kick save on Jason Gregoire in front of the net. UND controlled much of the play throughout getting several quality chances but yet again the Sioux missed on their two power play opportunities.

The early parts of the second period started off sloppy with a lot of missed passes and turnovers however the period did have it’s share of fireworks as the Sioux tallied two goals 3:30 apart.

The first one came at 14:23 of the second with the Badgers on the power play and it was the former Hobey Baker winner who provided the spark. With Wisconsin cycling the puck in the Sioux zone a nice poke check by forward Chris VandeVelde got the puck loose and VandeVelde slid the puck out to clear it. Then, Duncan raced down the ice and beat everyone to the puck and carried it in back handed, kept skating in and beat Connelly 5-hole for the shorthanded goal giving UND a 1-0 lead.

“I was just trying to keep the puck away from the defenseman as much as I could and I saw a little room in between his pads and the puck was kind of away from me so I couldn’t really get it up," Duncan said on his shorthanded goal. "I was fortunate enough that it went right through the wickets and found the back of the net,” .

Just a few minutes later it was Friday night’s hero, freshman Jason Gregoire who notched the next goal.

The score went to 2-0 UND at 17:59 of the period after an expired Sioux power play let UND control the puck in the zone and forward Evan Trupp found Gregoire just below the right circle. Gregoire one-timed the pass and beat Connelly short side under the crossbar with a wicked shot on a very tough angle.

Then, in the third period, the game got flipped upside down.

All but exactly the opposite outcome from Friday night’s game as Wisconsin trailed 2-0 in the third and came back with the tenacity of a team extremely hungry for a win.

The Badgers stormed back scoring five goals in the third including three goals on three shots in the first 2:17 of the third period. The barrage started with UND down a man and a fortunate Badger bounce off of freshman winger Derek Stepan’s skate after a Jamie McBain point shot saw the puck find the back of the net past Sioux netminder Brad Eidsness making the score 2-1. Just 52 seconds later it was all knotted up.

The score was tied at 2-2 when Wisconsin captain Blake Geoffrion deflected a Jake Gardiner point shot to the ice and through Eidsness’s 5-hole. The game then came full circle just 29 seconds later. After a UND turnover in their own zone, a nice lead pass from Sean Dolan up to McBain got the Badgers in on a two-on-one break and McBain found Tom Gorowsky and he did the rest burying the one-time attempt to the back of the net and left the 11,748 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in stunned silence.

“We made a couple of bad decisions towards the end of the second period, not just the penalties but what lead to those penalties. We ended up with tired bodies on the ice and that lead to a real quick start in the period for Wisconsin," noted UND coach Dave Hakstol about the penalties.

Even with a 3-2 lead the game was far from over with just under 18 minutes left to go in the game, but the big problem for the Sioux was that the Badgers never took their foot off the accelerator. Although the Sioux did have their chances, Connelly was up to the challenge stopping all seven shots he saw in the period.

The Badgers continued to lay it on and scored again at 13:42 when Sioux defenseman Ben Blood whiffed on a clearing attempt in the neutral zone and Gorowsky notched his second goal of the night beating Eidsness 5-hole for a back breaking goal.

A last ditch effort with the Sioux on the power play and the net empty in favor of an extra man came up short when Geoffrion scored his second of the night with an empty net at 17:41 to close it out and give the Badgers their first win of the season. Duncan noted earlier that the Badgers were willing to do the little things and that the Sioux just didn’t do them on Saturday.

“We got a lot of learning to do and the onus is on me to play better and play better in the third period and lead the team better," said Duncan "Hopefully we can forget about this quickly."

It was the first time that UND had given up five goals to an opponent in the third period since a 7-4 loss to New Hampshire on December 27th of last season.

With the loss, the Sioux see their record drop to 2-2 in WCHA play and 2-4 overall. The Badgers get off the winless shtick with the victory and their WCHA record moves to 1-4-1 and to 1-6-1 overall and Hakstol wasn’t surprised one bit about the late period comeback.

“I don’t think that (the win) should be a surprise to anybody," stated Hakstol. "I’ve said it time and again, they’re a good hockey team and they had a lot of things go right for them tonight.”