EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's hockey team earned a hard-fought Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) win on Friday night, defeating UW-Stevens Point 2-1 in overtime at Hobbs Ice Arena.
Once again, the hot-shooting Blugolds came out firing, out-shooting the Pointers in the first period (10-4) and second (18-5) but couldn't get on the board.
In the third, Stevens Point took advantage of a power play as Alex Grubbs scored to give the Pointers a 1-0 lead at the 11:23 mark.
The relentless Eau Claire offense wasn't done just yet and with just under two minutes left in regulation, Sami Meister (So. – Plymouth, MN/Wayzata) went top shelf to beat Pointer goaltender Sydney Conley and send the game into overtime. Elizabeth Bauer (So. – Wausau, WI/East) and Courtney Wittig (Jr. – Green Bay, WI/Bay Port) would earn assists on Meister's first goal of the season.
The Blugolds continued to attack in overtime and at the 1:58 mark, Jaedyn Walz (Sr. – Woodbury, MN/East Ridge) found the back of the net to give Eau Claire the go-ahead goal and a crucial WIAC victory.
Eau Claire held a 13-9 advantage in the third period and 3-0 in overtime to dominate in shots 44-18 for the game.
Sophomore netminder Erin Connolly (So. - Mequon, WI/Homestead) earned her 12th win of the season, recording 17 saves to improve to 12-5-3 on the year.
Eau Claire (13-6-3, 2-3-1 WIAC) will look to earn the series sweep over Stevens Point on Saturday but will have to do it on the road at Ice Hawks Arena in Stevens Point at 2:30 p.m. Follow the action on Blugold Game Day.