EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to earn a 2-2 overtime tie against four-team defending Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) champion St. Norbert College at the Hobbs Ice Center Saturday night.

The Blugolds, who have yet to win a game in 10 starts this season, snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Green Knights. The Blugolds are 3-23-2 all-time against St. Norbert and last won against the DePere school on January 21, 1995. They did tie St. Norbert, 4-4, in a game on January 16, 1999 but had dropped 16 in a row until Saturday.

After the teams skated to a scoreless tie in the first 20 minutes, St. Norbert jumped on the scoreboard just 27 seconds into the second period with a five on three power play. There was no scoring until the Green Knights boosted their lead at 2:50 of the third period. The score remained 2-0 for almost 10 more minutes until senior Andy Klapperick (Austin, MN) scored on a Blugold power play at the 12:14 mark. It was Klapperick's second goal of the season. Then with just 3:35 left in the contest, freshman Sam Bauler (Apple Valley, MN/Eastview) pulled the Blugolds even with his second goal of the season.

Each team had a pair of shots in the five-minute overtime but failed to convert.

Senior Steffan Braunlich (Los Angeles, CA/Loyola) turned away 31 shots between the pipes for the Blugolds while Kyle Jones stopped 18 shots in goal for St. Norbert.

Only 11 penalties were whistled in the game with the Blugolds converting on one of six power play opportunities and St. Norbert on one of five.

St. Norbert is now 7-2-2 for the season and 1-1-2 in the NCHA while the Blugolds are 0-7-3 overall and 0-3-1 in the NCHA.

Eau Claire-St. Norbert Box Score

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