MILWAUKEE – A hat trick from Simon Tassy and another perfect outing from Kyle McClellan helped the No. 6 Wisconsin men’s hockey capture the 2023 Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off with a 3-0 victory over Northeastern on Friday Night at Fiserv Forum.

Sophomore forward Tassy scored all three goals in the contest to record his first-career hat trick as Wisconsin (16-4-0, 8-2-0) secured its second Holiday Face-Off championship title in the tournament’s third year. Senior goaltender Kyle McClellan was perfect in net, stopping all 28 of Northeastern’s (6-9-1, 1-8-0) shots on goal to earn back-to-back shutout victories for the second time this season.

Tassy put the Badgers on the board 12:13 into the first period. The sophomore forward battled with a Northeastern player to gain possession of the puck in the neutral zone before using a boost of speed to rush into Husky territory. Tassy finished top shelf for his second of the tournament.
 
Cruz Lucius found the back of the net nine minutes into the second period on the power play but the goal was waived off due to goaltender interference.

Three minutes later, while Wisconsin had an extra attacker on the ice during a Northeastern delayed penalty, Tassy notched his second goal of the evening. Senior forward Mathieu De St. Phalle passed the puck from the top of the Huskies’ right circle to find Tassy in the middle of the zone, who let a shot fly past Northeastern goaltender Cameron Whitehead to make it 2-0 in favor of the Badgers. 

With 3:28 remaining in the game, Tassy completed the hat trick. The forward dumped the puck into the Huskies’ zone and won the race to the ricochet in front of the net before pushing it through the goaltender’s five-hole.