By Nick Hoven, UWEC Sports Information
MOORHEAD, Minn. (Blugolds.com) - The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team stayed in Minnesota on Saturday afternoon as they completed their second game of their weekend road trip. The Blugolds scored early and often to take down Concordia-Moorhead 8-1 and improve their overall record to 13-2-2.
With less than 24 hours between Friday's win and Saturday's contest, the Blugolds wasted no time showing how well they can keep the momentum going. Just five minutes after puck drop, Tyler Tomberlin (Jr. – St. Paul, MN/Andover) would get things started as his shot got deflected past the Concordia goalie for the first tally of the game. This would be Tomberlin's fourth goal of the year and the first of his two points on the afternoon. Tomberlin was one of four Blugolds with multi-point outings in the game. Jack Murphy (So. – Prior Lake, MN) would also get the lone assist on the first goal.
The first period would come to a close after both sides would each score a goal apiece. Scott Munro (Jr. – Vancouver, BC/St. George's) recorded his fifth goal of the season. From then till the end, it would be a dominate performance by Eau Claire.
The flood gates were opened in the second period of play as Jake Bresser (Jr. – Eau Claire, WI/Memorial) and Johnny Mueller (Sr. – St. Peters MO/Christian Brothers) both found the back of the net within the first ten minutes of play. The defensemen scoring surge would continue with Austin Redders (So. – McFarland/, WI) and Adam Parsells (Wausau, WI/West) both lighting the lamp with under five minutes remaining in the period.
The Blugolds would unfortunately finish the afternoon off without a powerplay goal after having seven chances with a man advantage. This would lower their powerplay efficiency to 13.2 percent, but the improved their penalty kill percentage to 85.9 percent.
In a physical final frame, both teams would combine for 32 minutes in penalties, but that would not stop the offensive dominance by the Blugolds. Nathan Dingmann (So. – Plymouth, MN found the back of the net late in the 3rd and Braden Mitchell (Jr. – Anchorage, AK/Service) would score his first goal in his Blugold career with just 30 seconds remaining.
Zach Dyment (So. – Abbotsford, BC/Yale Secondary) would stop 15 of the 16 shots he faced to earn his 12th win of the season and his 20th win in a Blugold sweater.
The Blugolds will be back at Hobbs on Friday and Saturday, January 11th and 12th for a non-conference homestand versus St. John's and St. Olaf. Game times are scheduled for 7 p.m. both nights. Follow the action on Blugold Game Day or on the 'UWEC Blugolds' app on your mobile device.
