SUPERIOR, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire women's hockey team rebounded from a 7-2 home loss at the hands of UW-Superior by traveling to Superior and earning a hard-fought 4-3 victory over the Yellowjackets here today at Siinto S. Wessman Arena.
Box Score | Coach Collins Video
The win improves the Blugolds record to 5-15-1 overall and 1-6-1 in conference play while the Yellowjackets fall to 14-6-0 overall and 4-4-0 in the WIAC. The win was the first-ever for the Blugolds in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), which has been a four-team conference for the past two seasons. The victory ended a six-game losing streak to the Yellowjackets and also marked the first win by the Blugolds at Wessman Arena since February 10, 2012 when Eau Claire won 3-2.
Less than five minutes into the game Eau Claire took a 1-0 lead when Paige Dale (So.-Andover, MN) scored her 11th goal of the season at 4:33 assisted by Jaedyn Walz (Fr.-Woodbury, MN/East Ridge). It is the fourth-straight game that Dale has scored a goal.
Andi Husted (Sr.-Scottsdale, AZ/Shattuck St. Mary's) gave the Blugolds a 2-0 lead scoring her third goal of the season at 16:36 of the first period unassisted.
Ashley Baugher (Jr.-Crystal Lake, IL/Central) extended the lead to 3-0 scoring a power play goal at 8:48 of the second period assisted by Husted. The goal gave Baugher her tenth point of the season.
Superior came back to tie the game at 3-3 scoring goals at 19:43 of the second period plus two third period goals at 4:59 and 12:36.
The late-game heroics came from Walz, who scored her first career game-winning goal assisted by Baugher at 18:53 of the third period. The Blugolds held off the Yellowjackets over the final 1:07 preserving a hard-fought victory.
Goalie Kim Van Brunt (Jr.-Eagle River, WI/Northland Pines) earned her second victory of the season saving 49 Yellowjacket shots in 60 minutes of action.
Eau Claire was outshot by Superior 52-18. Both teams scored one goal in three power play opportunities. Both teams also served 10 penalty minutes on five minor infractions.
The Blugolds return to the road next Saturday, January 31 when they travel to 9th-ranked UW-Stevens Point for an afternoon game. Eau Claire is 0-1-1 versus Stevens Point this season, tying the Pointers at Hobbs Ice Center 3-3 on December 5 and losing a hard-fought 2-1 game at Stevens Point on December 6. Face-off is set for 2:30 p.m.
-KCM-
