Just as no one knows for sure how much the loss will cost them, no one can measure the precise value of their victory.

Members of the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team can only press on, hoping that the most emotional weekend of the season ultimately will pay dividends.

UW was victimized by a grievous error on the part of referee Randy Schmidt in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series opener Friday at Denver.

Schmidt eschewed procedure and common sense in disallowing a last-second, score-tying goal by senior right winger Matthew Ford, enabling the third-ranked Pioneers to escape with a 3-2 victory at Magness Arena.

Fueled by rage and frustration from that injustice — verified by a public apology from WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod hours before the series finale Saturday night — the 17th-ranked Badgers rolled to a dominating 7-2 triumph.

"We paid a price," UW coach Mike Eaves said of the controversial loss. "Last year we missed the NCAAs by one game. Are we looking at that again? We won't know until the end of the season. I hope it doesn't come back to bite us, but it certainly could."

Eaves preferred to focus on the impact of the victory, which gave UW its first road win of the season (1-5-2) and moved it from eighth place into a tie for sixth in the WCHA heading into a series Friday and Saturday at Alaska-Anchorage.

He said the "heavy cloud" of adversity brought about an intense bonding experience that could make the weekend a pivotal point in the season.

"They responded like we hoped they would," Eaves said after the Badgers improved to 9-10-3 overall.

"Is this a watershed moment for us? Only time will tell. But certainly we have the wind at our back right now."

It was an embarrassing weekend for WCHA management — specifically McLeod and Greg Shepherd, the supervisor of officials — as far as the series is concerned. It started with Schmidt's error in the opener. It continued the next night when Schmidt was allowed to officiate.

To review: TV replays showed Ford scored with 0.9 seconds left, a point driven home by the fact Schmidt signaled for the goal and the red goal light went on. The light and game clock are synchronized, so that it can't be illuminated if time has expired.

A witness said Schmidt took a cursory look at one frame in his review: The one where the clock showed 00:00.

That overhead snapshot showed the puck in the crease, so Schmidt had to have assumed it hadn't crossed the goal line.

In fact, the puck already had crossed the goal line at that point and the puck had come back out of the net.

Earlier this season, Magness Arena was designated by the league as a site where officials could review multiple camera angles in order to get goal calls correct. Had Schmidt taken full advantage of that reality, the weekend would have gone much smoother.

Eaves and Denver counterpart George Gwozdecky were outspoken in their belief that it wasn't fair to the teams or to Schmidt to have him work the second game.

After apologizing on behalf of the league Saturday night, Gwozdecky said he was told earlier in the day that had a review of the last-second sequence turned up an error, a change in officials would be made.

It's unclear why that didn't turn out to be the case. McLeod, who is attending the NCAA convention in Nashville, Tenn., didn't return multiple phone calls Saturday or Sunday.

What is clear is that while UW got five goals from four freshmen in the win Saturday night, the emotional tone was set by its leaders.

Senior defenseman and captain Davis Drewiske played ferociously, while partner and assistant captain Kyle Klubertanz was an astounding plus-five.

"This could be the turning point in our season, for sure," Klubertanz said.

"I'm excited right now," Drewiske added. "I can feel some momentum."