By Justin Dade - Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The No. 6 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team rebounded after a tough loss on Thursday to roll 7-1 over UW-Superior on Saturday at Hobbs Ice Arena on Alumni Night.
The Blugolds needed a big win, and they got it thanks to an offense that dominated throughout the night showing excellent puck possession in the opposing zone.
Patrick Moore (Sr. – Grand Rapids, MN) was a beneficiary of the offensive dominance finishing with a hat trick and one assist. It was big night for the leading point scorer in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) who now bolsters 36 total appearances in the box score.
This game got physical early and often ending with a total of 100 penalty minutes and seven game misconducts between the two teams.
Jesse Tredinnick (Jr. – Onalaska, WI) buried a rebound in the front of the net after a shot from Jake Hopfner (Jr. – Eastpointe, MI) to give the Blugolds the quick 1-0 lead just over three minutes into the opening period.
Moore followed suit with just under five minutes left in the period on a perfectly placed shot top left corner to make it 2-0. Adam Knochenmus (Sr. – Roseau, MN) was credited with the assist on the goal.
The Blugolds would lead in shots on goal 9-8 while killing off three crucial Yellowjacket powerplays in the first period.
Moore would add his second tally of the evening 8:52 into the second period on the power play assisted by Knochenmus and Garret Clemment (Sr. – Wausau, WI) to make it 3-0.
UW-Superior would make things interesting with 6:31 left in the period as they capitalized on a Blugold penalty on a powerplay-goal scored by Tanner Skaja to make it 3-1.
The Blugolds stifled the momentum shift with their fourth goal of the night scored this time by Clemment wth 3:47 left in the middle frame assisted by Moore and Knochenmus.
UW-Eau Claire would add three more to their 4-1 lead in the final period to go on to win 7-1 seeing Moore finish his hat trick late in the period.
Knochenmus and Mac Jansen (Jr. – White Bear Lake, MN) found the back of the net with the man advantage in the third period helping the Blugolds finish with an impressive 75% success rate on the power play for the game.
Knochenmus would finish the night with five total points (1 G, 4 A) and a +3 rating.
Goaltender Jay Deo (Sr. – Langley, British Columbia) started in net for the Blugolds for the 23rd consecutive time on the season. The senior net minder saved 19 of the 20 shots he faced to improve to 15-5-3 on the season.
The Blugolds (15-5-3) will now have the next week off to prepare for their final two games of the season. UW-Eau Claire will travel to UW-Superior on Feb. 10 for the second meeting between these two teams before finishing the regular season at home against No. 5 UW-Stevens Point the following evening in a game that will have WIAC and NCAA implications.
Follow all the action on Blugold Game Day.
