EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team opened up the 2008-09 with a 4-1 victory over the St. Scholastica Saints in a non-conference matchup at Hobbs Ice Center tonight.

While neither team found the net in the first period, the Blugolds jumped on the board at 6:53 in the second. Joe Bluhm (Jr.-Red Wing, Minn.)scored the Blugolds' first goal of the season with Tyler Trudell (Jr.-Waukesha, Wis./South) and Jesse Vesel (Sr.-Hibbing, Minn.) assisting on the goal.

The Blugolds extended their lead to two with a goal at 5:28 in the third period. Larry Kincaid (Fr.-Wasilla, Alaska/Houston) scored the first goal of his collegiate career while John Kearns (So.-Chicago, Ill./Maine South) and Bryan Plaszcz (Sr.-Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) picked up the assists.

The Saints tried to fight their way back in to the game with Joey Martini scoring less than four minutes later on a power play to make the score 2-1 in favor of Eau Claire. Two minutes after that, Nicholas Kuqali (Jr.-Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) found the net for Eau Claire to push the Blugolds' lead back to two. With less than a minute to go in the contest, Brant Marple (Jr.-Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) put the game out of reach with the Blugolds fourth goal of the night on a power play. Nic Weight (Fr.-Eagle River, Wis. /Northland Pines) and Sean Garrity (Sr.-North St. Paul, Minn./North) assisted on the goal.

Tyler Brigl (Jr.-Eagan, Minn.) played the entire game in-goal, picking up 25 saves while allowing one goal. Eau Claire outshot the Saints 36-26 tonight.

The Blugolds are now 1-0 on the season while St. Scholastica drops to 0-1.

Eau Claire will be on the road for two more games next weekend. On Friday the Blugolds will face St. John's University while they will travel to Moorhead, Minn. on Saturday to take on Concordia-Moorhead. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

Eau Claire-St. Scholastica Box Score

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