Some members of the exclusive goaltending fraternity at the University of Wisconsin made their mark immediately. Curtis Joseph, Jim Carey and Bernd Bruckler, among others, were dominant even as freshmen.

Other UW goaltenders have had to either wait their turn or grow into the role. Brian Elliott, the one-time Hobey Baker finalist who graduated last year, was one of those. So is current UW junior Shane Connelly.

In Connelly's case, his emergence as a goaltender who can carry a team came just in time for the Badgers.

This weekend's WCHA series between 10th-ranked UW and 13th-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato at the Kohl Center matched two of the country's hottest teams and two of its hottest goaltenders in Connelly and Mike Zacharias.

More than anyone else, Connelly is the reason the Badgers are on a roll.

"He's a very athletic kid," Mavericks coach Troy Jutting said. "He's a lot like our kid. In my opinion, there's two kinds of goalies that are successful: The very athletic kid like Zacharias and Connelly or the big, stand-up, angle goalie. He's a lot like Mike in terms of the way they play the game."

As Connelly has stepped up his game, so has UW. He's been the Badgers' best player in the second half of the season.

Prior to their 3-0 loss to the Mavericks on Friday night, a shutout that was as damaging as it was mystifying, the Badgers had compiled a 5-1-3 record in the second half.

Only once in those nine games had the opponent scored more than two goals.

With Connelly looking more and more comfortable in goal, UW had climbed into a fourth-place tie with Minnesota State.

That made this series vitally important, especially for the Badgers since their final four games are on the road and they're not even a lock for fifth place and home-ice advantage in the WCHA playoffs.

Unfortunately, the Badgers didn't seem to realize any of that Friday night, when they ran into a physical, hard-working team and failed to match its intensity.

So poorly did the Badgers play, especially in the first period when the Mavericks fired 17 shots on goal, that not even Connelly could save them.

As well as he's been playing lately, he can't do it alone.

The score sheet indicated that Connelly gave up three goals for only the second time since Jan. 11.

But no one was pointing any fingers at the goaltender afterward.

All too often, his teammates left him standing on thin ice. Indeed, the Badgers were lucky they only trailed 1-0 after their lackluster first period. Connelly was the reason they were still in it.

"I thought he looked exceptionally sharp as he was stopping 16 of 17 shots," UW coach Mike Eaves said. "It's no reflection on Shane at all."

Connelly wasn't exceptional all night, but every Minnesota State goal can be traced to mistakes by his teammates.

The first one came on a 5-on-3 power play. The second one was a fluke, coming when the puck hit defenseman Craig Johnson's stick, bounced off of Connelly's mask and was falling to the ice when defenseman Cody Goloubef knocked it over Connelly's shoulder into the net. The final goal came when the puck hopped over defenseman Kyle Klubertanz's stick at the blue line, giving the Mavericks an easy breakaway.

"I was pleased with the way I played," Connelly said. "It's good to have a good start. If I wasn't as sharp as I was, it could have been worse in the first period. I was just trying to do my job. Unfortunately, Zacharias did a better job of keeping all the pucks out than I did. I've just got to be better (tonight). On flukes or on breakaways or whatever, I just have to be more sharp."

Connelly may not be a miracle worker quite yet, but he has become a good enough goaltender to get the Badgers where they want to go this season.

Now they just have to give him some help.

Contact Tom Oates at toates@madison.com or 608-252-6172.