By Justin Dade - Sports Information
EAU CLAIRE, Wisconsin - (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team skated to a 4-4 draw with the UW-Stevens Point Pointers on Saturday night at KB Willett Arena.
The Blugolds entered the night with the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament locked down no matter the result of this game, but earned an extra point in the standings with the draw. They proved they could hang with the second best team in the country on the road outshooting the Pointers 37-21 on the night.
The leading scorer in the WIAC wasted no time finding the back of the net for the 18th time this season as Tanner Karty gave the Pointers a 1-0 lead just 2:23 into the opening frame.
The Blugolds were 3-6 with the man advantage in the blowout win over UW-Superior last night, and they continued their success on the power play as Mac Jansen (Sr. – White Bear Lake, MN) scored his 10th goal of the season to make it 1-1 with 11:18 left in the first period. Jake Hopfner (Sr. – Eastpointe, MI) and Jesse Tredinnick (Sr. – Onalaska, WI) would be credited with the assists.
Center Colton Wolter (Sr. – Fairbanks, AK) would give the Blugolds a 2-1 lead late in the first period on his seventh goal of the season. Jake Bresser (So. – Eau Claire, WI) and Jacob Wolter (Sr. – Fairbanks, AK) would be credited with the assists on Wolter's 20th point of the year.
UW-Eau Claire would lead 13-9 in shots on goal after one period.
The Pointers would use two Brennan Miller goals with the second coming with two seconds left in the second period to take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission.
Adam Parsells (Fr. – Wausau, WI) continued his strong weekend with his second goal of the season unassisted to tie things back up at three on a strong drive to the net not even three minutes into the third period.
UW-Stevens Point answered yet again on a goal scored by Willem Nong-Lambert to make it 4-3 with 11:59 left in the final frame.
In dire need of the equalizer, Bresser found the back of the net just over three minutes later to make it 4-4. Parsells and Nathan Dingmann (Fr. – Plymouth, MN) were credited with the assists on Bresser's eighth goal of the season.
The Blugolds would see a few quality scoring chances in the overtime period, but couldn't break the 4-4 tie.
Goaltender Zach Dyment (Fr. - Abbotsford, BC) made his 12th straight start in net for UW-Eau Claire and saved 17 of the 21 shots he saw on the night in the win to finish the regular season 7-4-1.
The Blugolds will finish the regular season with a 15-9-1 record with a strong conference record of 5-2-1. They will now get ready for the semifinals of the WIAC Tournament presented by Culver's two weeks from now. UW-Eau Claire will be the No. 2 seed taking on rival No. 3 UW-Stout for a two-game series on Feb. 23-24.
Follow all the action on Blugold Game Day.
