By Justin Dade - Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The No. 7 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team struggled to get much going offensively against No. 4 UW-Stevens Point falling 4-1 on Saturday night at Hobbs Ice Center on Senior Night.
Box Score | Photos | WIAC Championship Website
After an electric seven-goal performance last night in Superior, the Blugolds' explosive offense was stifled by a very disciplined Pointers club managing just nine shots on goal through the first two periods.
The lack of offense had a lot to do with time spent in the penalty box. Despite only conceding once on the penalty kill, the 14 total minutes of penalty time made it difficult to produce much offense.
The Pointers used a first period man advantage to gain momentum and eventually found the first goal of the game late in the first period on a goal scored by Logan Fredericks to give them a 1-0 lead. The Blugolds had just three shots on goal in the first period.
Despite the tough first period, UW-Eau Claire found their legs thanks to a Pointers' penalty late in the first frame that carried over into the second period. Patrick Moore (Sr. – Grand Rapids, MN) found the back of the net on the man advantage to knot things up 1-1 just 1:33 into the period.
Any further momentum was diverted after the Blugolds got caught on a line change leading to a pretty tic-tac-toe goal scored right in front of the net by Lawrence Cornellier to give the Pointers back the lead with 15:41 left in the period.
After committing their third penalty of the period, the Pointers added to their lead on a power-play goal scored by Ryan Bittner to make it 3-1 with 4:55 left.
UW-Eau Claire would trail heading into the second intermission being outshot 21-9 through two periods of play.
The Pointers continued their strong defense in the final period controlling puck possession and keeping the Blugolds in their own end to deny any chance of a comeback. Goaltender Max Milosek saved all 14 Blugold shots on goal in the final period.
They would add a late empty net goal to go on to win 4-1 and secure the regular season WIAC title.
Jay Deo (Sr. - Langley, British Columbia) started in net for the Blugolds for the 25th consecutive time on the season. The senior net minder saved 26 of the 29 shots on goal in the loss to fall to 16-6-3 on the season.
The Blugolds will finish the regular season with a record of 16-6-3 and a conference record of 5-3. They will hold the #2 seed in the 2017 WIAC Championships (presented by Culver's) and will host UW-River Falls in a semifinal series on Feb. 24 and 25 at Hobbs Ice Arena.
Follow all the action on Blugold Game Day.
