STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The 15th-ranked UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team scored goals early and late to help in a 4-1 victory over UW-Stevens Point at K.B. Willett Arena tonight.
The Pointers, who haven't won a game since Nov. 4, got down early as Jared Williams (So.-West Chicago, Ill./Bartlett), assisted by Jon Waggoner (So.-Fairbanks, Alaska, Lathrop) and Alex Olson (So.-Devils Lake, N.D.), scored for the Blugolds just 19 seconds into the game. But 18 minutes later, Stevens Point tied it up with a goal from Luke Nesper to make the score 1-1 at the end of the first.
While the teams were fairly quiet through the second period with only four penalties being committed, Ross Andersen (Fr.-River Falls, Wis.) gave the Blugolds a one-goal lead, scoring with only seven seconds remaining in the period.
Andersen again found the back of the Pointers' net with just over three minutes left in the third period to make the score 3-1. Kurt Weston (Jr.-Roseau, Minn.) assisted on both of Andersen's goals tonight.
Williams added the final goal for Eau Claire, with 59 seconds left to play, on an empty net. Devin Mantha (Jr.-Sturgeon Falls, Ontario/Ann Arbor Pioneer) assisted on the goal.
The teams were nearly even on the shot chart with Stevens Point edging Eau Claire 20-19. Brandon Stephenson (Jr.-Saline, Mich.) played all 60 minutes in-goal for Eau Claire and picked up 19 saves to improve to 5-3 on the season.
The Blugolds have now won two out of their last three meetings at Stevens Point after not winning 22 straight games (20 losses, two ties) on the Pointers' home ice dating back to 1995.
Eau Claire improves to 7-4 on the season and 3-4 in conference play. Stevens Point drops to 2-6-2 overall and 1-4-2 in the conference.
Tomorrow the teams will face again in Stevens Point with the faceoff set for 7 p.m.
-KM-
