Wisconsin beats Vermont 3-2 in West Regional

Blake Geoffrion and Justin Schultz each had a power-play goal and an assist, and Scott Gudmandson made 28 saves to help Wisconsin beat Vermont 3-2 on Friday night in the NCAA West Regional semifinals.

Brian Davies also had a power-play goal for the top-seeded Badgers (26-10-4), who will face St. Cloud State on Saturday for a spot in the Frozen Four. St. Cloud State beat Northern Michigan 4-3 in double overtime.

``That was a typical tournament game. It was highly intensive out there,'' Badgers coach Mike Eaves said. ``Obviously, the power play was huge tonight and created a lot of scoring chances for us, and goals.''

Dan Lawson scored and assisted on Brian Roloff's goal to give Vermont (17-15-7) a 2-1 first-period lead.

``We were getting outworked and losing a lot of battles along the wall,'' said Badgers defenseman Brendan Smith. ``So we talked about getting it going a little bit and playing Wisco hockey.''

The Badgers took control in the second, outshooting the Catamounts 16-3 and scoring twice to take the lead.

``It was about execution,'' Roloff said. ``We knew what they were trying to do and unfortunately we allowed them to get shots from places we were trying to avoid. They were able to capitalize off them.''

Geoffrion, who leads the Badgers with 26 goals, set up Schultz's first-period goal, then scored in the final minute of the second to put Wisconsin ahead.

``He can release the puck pretty quick,'' Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon said about Geoffrion. ``You think you've got him covered on the power play and he can find a way to get shots off.''

Wisconsin is trying to advance to the Frozen Four for the first time since winning the 2006 national title in Milwaukee.