By Justin Dade, UWEC Sports Information
FON DU LAC, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The No. 10 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team continued their winning ways on Friday night as the Blugolds found the back of the net seven times in a dominant victory over Lawrence University under two three-point performances from Brandon Wahlin (Jr. - White Bear Lake, MN) and Garret Clemment ((Jr. – Wausau, WI).
Wahlin opened up the scoring just three minutes and 50 seconds into the game assisted by Ethan Nauman Sr. – Mosinee, WI) and Joe Schmitz (Sr. - Lino Lakes, MN) who led the Blugolds with a +4 rating on the evening.
Then with 8:51 left in the period, Nauman put a puck of his own behind Viking goaltender Greg Procopio assisted by Wahlin to extend the lead to 2-0.
In the second period, the Blugolds added another with a goal from Clemment assisted by Adam Knochenmus (Jr. – Roseau, MN) and Patrick Moore (Jr. - Grand Rapids, MN). The Blugolds fired 12 shots compared to just one shot on goal from the Vikings.
UW-Eau Claire opened things up in the third period, as they have tended to do this season scoring four goals to finish the game with a dominant 7-0 advantage. Goals came from David Henry (Jr. - Foster City, CA), Wahlin, Derek Knetter (Sr. – Wausau, WI), and Jesse Tredinnick (So. – Onalaska, WI) all within just over six minutes.
The Blugolds finished the game with a 37-19 edge in shots on goal and won 48 of the 76 faceoffs led by Moore winning 10 of his 14 attempts.
The Blugolds killed all four of the Lawrence power play's on the evening to improve their penalty kill percentage to an impressive 94.6 perfect on the season. Of the 37 times shorthanded, the Blugolds have only conceded two goals.
Goaltender Tyler Green (Sr. – Noblesville, IN) recorded his first shutout of the season Friday night saving all 19 Vikings' shots on goal. Green's record will improve to 3-1-1 on the season.
The Blugolds will look to add to winning streak and stay undefeated on the road by finishing the weekend trip tomorrow night against Marian University at 7 p.m.
