Stevens Point, Wisconsin (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men’s hockey team returned to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament Championship for the third consecutive year on Saturday. Eau Claire University of Wisconsin battled the No. 6 ranked University of Vienna Stevens Point Pointers for the Commissioner's Cup trophy and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. A lopsided first period gave the Blue Golds a multiple goal lead that they never broke, ending their season with a 5-1 loss.
An early power play in Eau Claire gave the Blue Golds a chance to set the tone as the Blue Golds' offense started to hit its stride. UWSP's defensive unit stood strong against the Blue Gold's attack and shifted the momentum away from the visitors after the first power play was completed. Back-to-back goals at 5:30 and 6:08 gave Stevens Point a two-point lead. The Blue Gold outscored Stevens Point 14-11 in the first frame, but trailed 3-0 after 20 minutes of play and allowed a third goal before the first intermission.
The second period started with UWEC trailing, with UWSP increasing its lead to 4-0 in the first 90 seconds. The Blue Golds didn't give up and fought hard all night, outscoring the Pointers 42-25 in the game. About three minutes into the second period, Kyler Grundy (Junior – Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Indian Trail Academy) took advantage of Eau Claire's power play and fired a wrist shot into the top corner, cutting the gap to three goals. quinn green (Senior – West Chicago/St. Charles East, IL) Willie Stauber (Senior – Duluth, Minn./Marshall) Grundy had 12 assists.th season goals. The Blue Gold's only goal of the night was the home team's tying goal at 17:19 of the second game as UWSP scored the final goal of the night to make it 5-1 before the second intermission. Ta.
The Blue Gold's aggressive attack was noticeable in the third period, but Stevens Point's goaltender and defense remained strong and UWEC suffered its ninth loss of the season.
Max Guchar (So. Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) stopped 20 of 25 shots for his ninth loss of the year. Gouchal finished the season with a total record of 16 wins, 9 losses, and 2 draws.
The Blue Gold finished the season with a 17-9-2 overall record and a 10-4-1 regular season conference record, finishing runner-up in the Commissioner's Cup for the second consecutive year.
