Justin Dade – Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The No. 8 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team opened up WIAC play with a big 7-3 win over rival UW-Stout on Thursday night at Hobbs Ice Center.
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The Blugolds have now been victorious in nine of the last 12 installments of the "War on I-94" rivalry. UW-Eau Claire redeemed themselves after a tie in their last meeting a year ago behind an offensive explosion this time around.
After a very even first five minutes of the game, a Blue Devils' penalty gave the Blugolds the first man advantage of the night. Captain Jake Hopfner (Jr. – Eastpointe, MI) wasted little time on the power play scoring his third goal of the year on a beautiful pass from Jesse Tredinnick (Jr. – Onalaska, WI) behind the net to make it 1-0 with 12:15 left to play in the opening period. Todd Koritzinsky (Jr. – Verona, WI) picked up his 10th point of the year with the second assist on the Hopfner's goal.
UW-Eau Claire tacked on another goal just 21 seconds later as Garret Clemment (Sr. - Wausau, WI) found a soft spot in front of the net and buried one past Stout goalie Tommi Ahlgren to make it 2-0 with 11:56 left in the period. Patrick Moore (Sr. – Grand Rapids, MN) and Alex Strand (Fr. – Roseau, MN) were credited with the assists on Clemment's second goal of the year.
The Blugolds led in shots on goal (9-7) and dominated in face-off wins (15-6) after the first period of play.
UW-Eau Claire extended their lead with 12:08 left in the second period on Clemment's second goal of the night assisted by Moore and RJ Majkozak (Jr. – White Bear Lake, MN).
Jacob Wolter (Jr. – Fairbanks, AK) made it 4-0 about seven minutes later on a nice cross-ice pass from Tyler Hart (So. – Woodbury, MN) at the 4:01 mark of the second period. Colton Wolter (Jr. – Fairbanks, AK) got the second assist on his twin brother's goal.
Two Blugold penalties gave the Blue Devis a 5-on-3 advantage that they would strike on with the goal coming from Connor Valesano with just 27 seconds left in the period. UW-Eau Claire would still take a commanding 4-1 lead into the second intermission.
UW-Stout made things interesting as they found the back of the net early in the final frame on the remaining power play scored by Colton Brausen to make it 4-2 with 19:09 left to play.
UW-Eau Claire got one back about two minutes later on a goal scored by Mac Jansen (Jr. - White Bear Lake, MN) to make it 5-2 assisted by David Henry (Sr. - Foster City, CA) and Logan Von Ruden (Fr. - Northfield, MN).
The Blugolds poured it on thanks to another goal from the Wolter line this time scored by Colton assisted by brother Jacob and Jake Bresser (Fr. - Eau Claire, WI) to make it 6-2 with 8:26 left in the game.
UW-Stout would answer about two minutes later with yet another power-play goal this time scored by Shayne McLaughlin to make it 6-3.
Jansen added another highlight to his impressive season scoring his eighth goal of the season late in the period as he kicked a pass from Moore to his stick and then ripped it to the top corner to make it a 7-3 final as Moore earned his third assist of the game.
The seven Blugold goals led to the Blue Devils using all three goalies in this one despite being outshot for the first time all season (26-25).
Goaltender Jay Deo (Sr. - Langley, British Columbia) made his tenth straight start and saved 23 of the 26 shots he faced in the win to improve to 7-1-2 on the season.
The Blugolds (7-1-2) will have Friday off before traveling to River Falls on Saturday evening for a date with the Falcons as WIAC play continues.
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