STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The No. 6 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team came up short in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Commissioner's Cup Saturday night, falling to No. 3 UW-Stevens Point 3-2 at K.B. Willett Arena.
Both teams came out fast and had several opportunities to score, including a short-handed breakaway by Adam Knochenmus (Sr. – Roseau, MN), but both defenses came up with big stops. The Blugolds out-shot the Pointers 13-11 in the period.
The second period saw more offense as both teams tallied a goal. Stevens Point struck first but the Blugolds responded a minute later as Lucas Kohls (Jr. - Forest Lake, MN) backhanded a rebound to knot the score at one apiece.
In an exciting third period, Stevens Point used their speed to take the lead. Pointer Lawrence Cornellier broke the tie on a breakaway at the 4:33 mark of the third and Stevens Point would add another breakaway goal at 15:34 to take a 3-1 advantage.
Eau Claire continued to fight as Garret Clemment (Sr. – Wausau, WI) scored an extra-attacker goal to make it 3-2 with 2:02 to play but the Blugolds would run out of time. Bryan Sinz (Sr. – Anchorage, AK) and Patrick Moore (Sr. – Grand Rapids, MN) were credited with assists on the Blugolds' final goal.
The Blugolds out-shot the Pointers 28-25 but Stevens Point held an edge in face offs, winning 41 of 68.
Jay Deo (Sr. – Langley, British Columbia) was in the crease for the Blugolds for the 28th consecutive game as the senior net minder saved 22 of the 25 shots he faced.
The Blugolds (18-7-3) and Pointers (21-4-3) will now wait to see who earns an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. The selection show will be streamed live at 9:30 a.m. on Monday.