MENOMONIE, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The No. 11 ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team continued Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play on Saturday with a road game down I-94 against UW-Stout. A two-goal first period lead would set up the Blugolds for a 4-2 UWEC victory.
After taking their first WIAC loss a night before, UW-Eau Claire bounced back early and took control of the game in the first period. Jack Johnston (Fr. – St. Paul, Minn./St. Paul Academy & Summit School) found the game's first tally halfway through the opening frame to give Eau Claire an early lead. Kyler Grundy (So. – Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Indian Trail Academy) and Quinn Green (Jr. – West Chicago, Ill/St. Charles East) received assists on Johnston's third goal of the year. In the final minute of the first period, Quinn Green added to the Blugold lead with his fifth goal of the year. Dawson Klein (So. – Lakeville, Minn//South) and Sammy Martel (Jr. – Bolingbrook, Ill./Neuqua Valley) earned assists as UWEC went into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.
The second period held all the momentum for the Blugolds as they added two more goals. Tyler Love (Sr. – Pittsburgh, Pa./Moon Area) recorded his first goal of the season 6:57 into the period to increase the Blugold lead. Ty Readman (Sr. – Edmonton, Alberta/Vimy Ridge Academy) earned the solo assist on Love's goal. Ryan Green (Jr. – Muskego, Wis.) added the fourth and final Blugold goal of the evening at the 16:45 mark to put UWEC up, 4-0. UW-Stout found the back of the net with under a minute remaining in the second to cut their deficit to three.
The Blugold penalty kill was busy all night but stood strong as they kept Stout scoreless on 12 minutes of power play time.
The third and final period of the contest was a defensive one for the Blugolds as they kept Stout to just seven shots on goal. The Blue Devils added one final goal at the 7:37 mark to cut the Eau Claire lead to two, but were shutout the remainder of the period to earn Eau Claire the seventh win of the season.
Max Gutjahr (Fr. – Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced to earn his third WIAC win of the year. Gutjahr is now 7-3-0 on the season.
The Blugolds (7-3-0 WIAC 3-1-0) will be back on the road on Friday, December 9th when they travel to UW-Stevens Point for their final weekend series before winter break. Puck drop is scheduled for 7PM.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at Blugold Game Day or on our app, UWEC Blugolds.
