EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – For the second time in as many nights, the UW-Eau Claire women's hockey team fell 4-3 to seventh-ranked UW-Stevens Point as the teams played at Hobbs Ice Center tonight.
While last night's game in Stevens Point was decided in overtime, tonight's game ended after regulation.
Down 4-1 with less than two minutes to play, Sam Knutson (Jr.-North St. Paul, Minn.) scored on a power-play at 18:32 in the third to make the score 4-2. Paige Dale (Fr.-Andover, Minn.) and Mariah Czech (Fr.-Andover, Minn.) assisted on the goal.
Then with just nine seconds remaining, Katie Burkey (Fr.-Ramsey, Minn./Anoka), assisted by Claudia Gagnon (Fr.-Duluth, Minn./East) and Tory Heller (So.-Cottage Grove, Minn./Hill-Murray), got the Blugolds within one was she scored an even-strength goal. While the Blugolds had the momentum at the end, they couldn't overcome the deficit before the final buzzer.
The teams were tied a majority of the game after back-to-back goals in the opening period. Eau Claire got down at 13:46 but Amanda Kane (Jr.-Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul), assisted by Knutson, answered 39 seconds later and the teams remained tied 1-1 until almost the end of the second period.
Paige Turner (So.-Iron River, Wis./Duluth East) was peppered in-goal for the Blugolds, stopping 49 out of 53 shots. Her 49 saves ranks fourth all-time in a single game in school history. Eau Claire finished with 30 shots on the night.
The Blugolds had four power-play opportunities and scored on two of them while Stevens Point went 1-for-5.
Eau Claire drops to 1-7-2 overall and 0-5-1 in the WIAC while Stevens Point improves to 9-1-1 on the season and 5-1-0 in conference play.
Next up, the Blugolds will face Bethel University (Minn.) twice before the break. They will host Bethel on Friday at 7 p.m. and will then travel to Bethel on Saturday for a game at 3 p.m.
-KM-