By Justin Dade - Sports Information
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The No. 11 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team fell to the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Raiders 2-0 on Friday night at the Kern Center to open the new season.
Following the departure of one of the most decorated senior classes in program history a year ago, the Blugolds looked ready to continue last years' success with six freshmen cracking the lineup for opening night.
UW-Eau Claire began the 2017-18 season with a dominant first seven minutes to the opening period featuring plenty of offensive zone time including an early power-play chance.
The Raiders were able to tilt the ice with a man advantage of their own later in the period, but couldn't find the back of the net, registering only two shots.
The Blugolds got their best scoring chance with under a minute to go on a two-on-one breakaway, but Todd Koritzinsky (Sr. – Verona, WI) was unable to get the puck behind goaltender Zach Woodman.
Despite going 0-2 on the power play in the first frame, UW-Eau Claire would head to the locker room with a 13-4 advantage in shots on goal in a scoreless tie.
UW-Eau Claire spent a lot of time in their own defensive zone in a second period that saw them give up three power plays. The Raiders would strike on one of those man advantages on a blast from the slot from Chris Hinrichs to make it 1-0 with 9:23 left in the period.
With all of the time on the power play, the Raiders were able to outshoot the Blugolds 8-7 in the second period taking the one-goal advantage into the locker room for the final intermission.
The penalties continued in the third period for both teams as six players made it to the box in the third frame alone.
The Blugolds had a plethora of opportunities with the man advantage in the final period, but struggled to get anything past Woodman who had an impressive night in the crease for the Raiders finishing with 31 saves. Woodman got a lot of help in front of him as well as the Raiders blocked a total of 16 shots on the night.
MSOE made it 2-0 on an odd man rush with a goal scored by Jerad Tafoya with 5:21 left to play in the game.
UW-Eau Claire looked to make things interesting late in the period, but couldn't get anything behind a stingy MSOE defense as time expired with the 2-0 final score.
Goaltender Camden Haugenoe (Fr. - Williston, ND) made his first ever start in net for the Blugolds and saved 13 of the 15 shots he faced.
The Blugolds (0-1-0) will look to turn things around tomorrow night as they travel to Illinois to take on Lake Forest. The puck is set to drop at 3:30 p.m.
Follow all the action on Blugold Game Day.
