Justin Dade – Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The No. 6 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team rolled to a 5-1 win over the Marian University Sabres on New Years' Eve Day at Hobbs Ice Arena.
The Blugolds will ring in the new year on a high note after collecting their 10th win of the season behind a strong third period push.
UW-Eau Claire started this one strong outshooting the Sabres 7-4 in the first 10 minutes of play. Jesse Tredinnick (Jr. - Onalaska, WI) received a beautiful pass from Colton Wolter (Jr. - Fairbanks, AK) in an odd-man rush and buried one past Mike Gudmandson to make it 1-0 with 7:03 left in the opening frame. Kyle Lee (Jr. - Wausau, WI) got the second assist on the goal.
The Blugolds would lead in both shots on goal (12-7) and face-off wins (12-4) after one period of play.
Marian came out strong in the second period against a Blugold team who looked like they lost a step following the first intermission.
Nick Monfils tied the game up 1-1 at the 9:20 mark of the period as the Sabres caught the Blugolds in the middle of a line change.
UW-Eau Claire was unable to get much going in the middle period only finding eight shots on goal.
After a slow second period, things got crazy in a third period that featured a flurry of Blugold goals and a new physical element to the game that didn't exist earlier with seven total penalties in the period.
Patrick Moore (Sr. - Grand Rapids, MN), Todd Koritzinsky (Jr. - Verona, WI), Mac Jansen (Jr. - White Bear Lake, MN) and Garret Clemment (Sr. - Wausau, WI) all found the back of the net for UW-Eau Claire in the final period.
Despite a rather even first two periods, UW-Eau Claire's explosive offense turned the game into a rout rather quickly to earn the 5-1 win.
Jansen collects his 10th goal of the season to extend his lead in the conference as the top scorer. Moore extends his conference lead in points with the goal to now bolster 23 total points for the season.
A big key to the victory tonight was the strong penalty-killing performace, as the Blugolds denied all seven power-play chances for the Sabres.
Goaltender Jay Deo (Sr. - Langley, British Columbia) made his 14th straight start and saved 15 of the 16 shots he faced in the win to improve to 10-1-2 on the season. No other goalie has yet to see any playing time in net this season.
The Blugolds (10-1-3) will now get ready to travel to Oswego, New York to participate in the 2017 Pathfinder Tournament. UW-Eau Claire has a date with the current top team in the country in Division 3 in Oswego State on Jan. 6 at 6:00 p.m. Their second opponent the day after will determined following the first round's results.
Follow the action all year long on Blugold Game Day.