By Nick Hoven, UWEC Sports Information
Eau Claire, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's hockey team continued Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Saturday night as they traveled to Superior, Wi to take on the UW-Superior Yellowjackets. After maintaining a lead through two periods, the Blugolds would win the contest in overtime, 3-2.
The Blugold powerplay has been a force so far this seasona and head coach, Erik Strand, and company made sure they kept that consistent play noticeable early in the game. Taylor Treu (Jr. – Wausau, WI/West) would score her first goal of the season after a Superior hooking penalty gave Eau Claire the player advantage.
When asked about the success of the special teams' play Strand praised the returning players saying "It has been nice to roll with familiar units who have played with each other. It makes a lot of things go your way when everyone is on the same page and is resilient like this group.
In the second period, the Blugolds would tag on another goal early on as Emma Peterson (Jr. – Superior, WI) would net her third goal of the year, and thirteenth as a Blugold, to put Eau Claire up by two.
In the third, Superior would tie things up at two after back-to-back goals just minutes apart, but Addie Young (So. – Superior, WI) would end the Yellowjacket comeback with an overtime winner past the Superior goalie to make it 3-2.
Coach Strand mentioned after the game that the weekend's conference victories came with some growing moments saying, "We took some strides in the right direction, but also had some learning opportunities put in front of us. It is important to continuously battle within our conference and to take everything one game at a time. We did just that and we are on to another battle ahead of us."
Goaltender Erin Connolly (Sr. – Mequon, WI/Homestead) would get the start for Eau Claire and would finish the game stopping 20 of the 22 shots she faced in the four periods improving her record to 3-1-0.
The Blugolds will be back on the road next when they travel down I-94 to River Falls, WI to take on UW-River Falls for another WIAC matchup.
Follow the Blugolds all season long on Blugold Game Day or on the 'UWEC Blugolds' app from your mobile device.
