EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire football team won its first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (WIAC) game of the season with a 34-26 victory over UW-Platteville at Carson Park on homecoming today.

The Blugolds (3-3, 1-2 WIAC) got down early after a Platteville field goal but took the lead with a touchdown by Cory Sartorelli (Sr.-Appleton, Wis./North). After missing the extra point, the score stayed 6-3.

The Pioneers (3-3, 1-2 WIAC) went back up on their next drive with a touchdown but the Blugolds answered right back with a touchdown of their own. This time it was Kyle Paulson (Sr.-Amery, Wis.) to Nils Dillon (Sr.-Iola, Wis./Iola-Scandanavia) on a 21-yard pass. Following a successful two-point conversion, the score was 14-10 in favor of Eau Claire.

Platteville then went on a scoring run and got up 23-14 by the third quarter but the Blugolds battled back and took the lead for good at the end of the third quarter with two more scores.

At 2:17 in the third, Brett Schreiner (Sr.-Somerset, Wis.) caught a 45-yard Paulson pass and Sartorelli added another touchdown two minutes later after the Blugolds recovered a fumble on the kickoff. It took the Eau Claire offense just four plays to find the end zone and make the score 28-23 on that drive.

Schreiner caught one more touchdown pass in the fourth to make the score 34-23 and Platteville added three more points before all was said and done to make the final 34-26.

Eau Claire outgained Platteville 439-342 and held the Pioneers to just 54 rushing yards. The Blugolds finished with 153 yards on the ground and 286 in the air.

Sartorelli led Eau Claire with 110 yards rushing. His two touchdowns today moved him to fourth on the Blugolds' most career rushing touchdowns list with 40. Schreiner finished with 106 receiving yards, the second most in his career for a single game, with six receptions. Paulson finished the day with 286 yards passing, going 20-for-29.

For Platteville, Chad Roscoe led with 81 yards rushing while Aunton Terry led the receivers with 98 yards on 10 receptions. The Pioneers' quarterback, Mitch Shadley, finished with 288 passing yards on 22-for-29 passing. Tony Smidl, Platteville's kicker, tied a school record for most field goals in a career with four today. The record is 28. His 44-yard field goal in the third quarter also marked a career long for Smidl.

On Defense, the Blugolds picked up four sacks and recovered two fumbles. Kalan Stittleburg (So.-Neillsville, Wis.) and Ryan Leis (Sr.-Alma Center, Wis./Lincoln) led the team with six tackles each. Chris Olson (So.-Stratford, Wis.) added five.

For Platteville, Tom Bruins finished with 10 tackles to lead the game while Dave Daino recorded eight.

Eau Claire is now 22-25-1 all-time against the Pioneers and has won the last five meetings. The win was also the sixth straight homecoming victory for Eau Claire.

The Blugolds will be back at home next weekend for the Hall of Fame game against UW-Stout. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Carson Park.