APPLETON, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team traveled to Appleton to take on Lawrence University in non-conference action on Tuesday night with the teams skating to a 4-4 tie.
Lawrence got on the board first with a goal just four minutes into the game, but the Blugolds would respond with two goals in less than a minute to take the lead. Kyle Oleksiuk (Fr. – Winnipeg, Manitoba) scored the first Blugold goal at 9:42 with assists from Quinn Green (So. – West Chicago, IL/St. Charles East) and Charles Weiand (Sr. – Rosemount, MN). Jordan Randall (Fr. – Maple Grove, MN) would follow with a goal at 10:27 with Blake Kryska (So. - Grand Blanc, MI) and Ty Readman (Sr. – Edmonton, Alberta/Vimy Ridge Academy) earning assists.
In the second, Oleksiuk and Green would connect again for a score, with Oleksiuk recording his second goal of the night at the 2:15 mark. Austin Becker (Fr. – Amery, WI) would give Eau Claire a 4-1 lead with an unassisted goal at 16:28, but Lawrence would come back with a goal less than a minute later to cut into the lead. With under a minute remaining in the period, Lawrence took advantage of a Blugold penalty, converting on the power play at 19:11, making the score 4-3 in favor of Eau Claire heading into the second intermission.
In the third period, the Vikings tied it up with a goal at 4:58. Neither team could muster another goal in the frame, sending the game into overtime. In OT, both teams managed four shots on goal but neither would find the back of the net. While the game is officially recorded as a tie, a three-round shootout followed the five-minute overtime. After three misses for Lawrence and the first two Blugolds coming up empty, Readman would beat Viking goaltender Brian Tallieu on the final attempt of the night.
The Blugolds out-shot the Vikings 38-26 on the night while netminder Ryan Ouellette (Fr. – Colorado Springs, CO/Liberty) tallied 22 saves and is now 10-6-1 on the season.
Eau Claire (11-11-1, 7-6-0 WIAC) will be back at Hobbs this weekend as they host UW-River Falls to wrap up the regular season on Friday and Saturday night, both games at 7 p.m.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at Blugold Game Day or on the app, UWEC Blugolds.
