Justin Dade – Sports Information
WINONA, Minn. (Blugolds.com) – The No. 8 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team skated to their first tie of the season against Saint Mary's University (Minn.) 3-3 on Friday night at Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
The Blugolds jumped up three spots in the D3Hockey.com poll to No. 8 with their 2-0 opening weekend. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in this one but couldn't hold on in a physical game that saw 19 total penalties called.
Adam Knochenmus (Sr. – Roseau, MN) led the Blugolds in goals (22) a year ago, and he opened up the scoring in this one with his second goal of the season assisted by Patrick Moore (Sr. - Grand Rapids, MN) and Bryan Sinz (Sr. – Anchorage, AK) just 7:18 into the game.
Jacob Wolter (Jr. – Fairbanks, AK) extended the UW-Eau Claire lead on a beautiful tape-to-tape pass from Kyle Lee (Jr. – Wausau, WI) with 36 seconds left in the period to give the Blugolds a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Despite being outshot 11-7 in the first period, the Blugolds dominated the face-off circle leading 10-3.
Things got crazy in a second period that featured three goals and 11 total penalties.
UW-Eau Claire added to their lead on a power-play goal from captain Jake Hopfner (Jr. – Eastpointe, MI) assisted by Jesse Tredinnick (Jr. – Onalaska, WI) and Mac Jansen (Jr. - White Bear Lake, MN) to give the Blugolds a 3-0 lead with 17:33 to play in the second period.
The Cardinals got on the board just 1:16 later on a goal scored by Taylor Portner unassisted to make it 3-1.
From the 14:48 mark to the 8:48 mark in the second period, both teams were penalized nine times collectively with six of those being roughing minors.
As the physical play seemed to wear the Blugolds down, Saint Mary's inched even closer on a goal score by Bob Kinne with 5:44 left in the second period.
In a rough period for UW-Eau Claire, the Cardinals outshot the Blugolds 15-6 in the second frame.
St. Mary's tied things up just over five minutes into the third period on a goal scored by Alex DiBacco to make it 3-3.
Each team got plenty of opportunities in the rest of regulation that included power plays for both teams, but a five-minute overtime period was necessary in this hard fought battle.
The Blugolds recorded three shots on goal in overtime, and the Cardinals recorded two, but neither team could break the 3-3 tie.
Despite allowing eight man advantages for the Cardinals in this game, the Blugolds killed off every single one due to incredible collective penalty-killing effort. The Blugolds have now only given up one power-play goal on the season in 17 penalty-kill opportunities.
Goaltender Jay Deo (Sr. – Langley, British Columbia) started his third straight game and was key in shutting down the Cardinals' power play surrendering only three goals on 38 shots. Deo's record will now move to 2-0-1 on the season.
The Blugolds (2-0-1) will look to get back into the win column as they stay in Minnesota for another road contest tomorrow night against Augsburg College. Puck drop will be at 7 p.m. at Ed Saugestad Arena in Minneapolis.
Follow the action all year long on Blugold Game Day.
