EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team held a rare Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) evening home game on Wednesday as they faced off against UW-Stevens Point. As both teams battled with pace and physicality all night, the Blugolds found their chances and lit the lamp twice to earn their first win over UWSP this season.
UW-Eau Claire looked to continue their momentum coming off a five-point weekend series against UW-Superior days prior as they welcomed back Quinn Green (Jr. – West Chicago, Ill./St. Charles East), Connor Szmul (Jr. – Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View), and Head Coach Matt Loen from the World University Games. UWEC managed to find the first tally of the night just after the halfway mark of the opening period as Jordan Randall (So. – Maple Grove, Minn.) put home his third goal of the season. Ty Readman (Sr. – Edmonton, Alberta/Vimy Ridge Academy) and Kyle Oleksiuk (So. – Winnipeg, Manitoba) received assists on Randall's goal to put Eau Claire up 1-0. Just 90 seconds later, UWSP found an equalizer on a turnover in the Eau Claire zone to even things at 1-1.
As both teams came back for second period all tied up, Eau Claire found an early edge with offensive pressure. Ty Readman received a pass from Kyle Oleksiuk on the weak side and ripped a shot on net, forcing the puck hit to bounce off the Pointer netminder and pop up and over into the net for UWEC's second goal of the evening. Readman's first goal of the season was assisted by Oleksiuk and Tyler Love (Sr. – Pittsburgh, Pa./Moon Area).
Both sides found their share of special teams opportunities as five penalties for ten minutes were called between the teams. The Blugolds kept the UWSP powerplay off the board with two successful penalty kills in the final two periods. Shots were kept about even as Stevens Point outshot Eau Claire 17-16. UWEC did hold the advantage in blocked shots as the Blugold defenders stopped 13 shots before the puck could find its way to the net.
Max Gutjahr (Fr. – Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced to earn his 12th win of the season. Gutjahr is now 12-6-1 on the year.
The Blugolds (12-6-1, WIAC 5-3) will continue WIAC play on Friday and Saturday, January 27th and 28th over in Ashland, Wis. UWEC will face Northland College in a two-game series with puck drop at 7PM on Friday.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at Blugold Game Day or on our app, UWEC Blugolds.
