#8 Blugolds shutdown #4 Auggies on the road

Photo by Connor Miller, UWEC Photo
Photo by Connor Miller, UWEC Photo

By Nick Hoven, UWEC Sports Information

Eau Claire, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team completed their two game road trip Saturday evening as they faced the Augsburg College Auggies from Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis, MN. With both teams nationally ranked, Augsburg fourth and Eau Claire eighth, the evening lived up to the high, flying expectations with a 3-1 road victory for the Blugolds. 

Box Score

The first and second period saw both defenses play confident resulting in a 0-0 tie. After those 40 minutes, the Blugolds would outshoot the Auggies 21-16, and it wouldn't be until the third frame that the contest would see a goal light finally lit. 

Jon Richards (Jr. – Callaway, MN/Detroit Lakes) would corral the puck from a midair deflection, lay it in front of him, and pick out the top left corner past the Auggie goalie to put the Blugolds up by one. Just moments later Augsburg would tie things up after a shot from the point found its way through traffic and into the Eau Claire net. 

Head Coach Matt Loen stated how the intensity early, led to opportunities saying, "The forecheck early on really helped opportunities in the beginning. By going hard into the corners and finding space, we are able to outshoot most teams from the gates till the final whistle."

With under five minutes to go, Nathan Dingmann (Jr. – Plymouth, MN/Wayata) would receive the puck from the corner,  find space in the middle, and bury a shot past the netminder to gain back the lead. Dingmann's tiebreaker would then be sealed by an empty net goal from Steen Cooper (Sr. – Duncan, BC) with seconds remaining. 

Goaltender Zach Dyment (Jr.-Abbotsford, BC/Yale Secondary) stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced and increases his record to 3-0-1. 

The Blugolds will be back on the ice next week Friday as they travel to Northwestern Wisconsin to start Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play when they take on UW-Superior at 7PM. 

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