ST. PAUL, Minn. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team won its second straight game, defeating the University of St. Thomas 7-3 tonight at St. Thomas Ice Arena.

The Blugolds improve to 5-7-3 on the season while St. Thomas drops to 5-7-3. While Eau Claire holds an all-time record of 7-15-2 against the Tommies, the Blugolds have won the last two meetings, tonight and in November of 2008.

Eau Claire got down early in the contest as the Tommies scored at 9:08 in the first period. The score remained 1-0 in favor of St. Thomas through the rest of the first.

The Blugolds had an exceptional second period, scoring four goals and outshooting the home team 18-6. Isaiah Bennis (Fr.-Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) scored at 8:27 and again at 11:45 to give the Blugolds the 2-1 lead. At 14:07 and 15:03, the Blugolds increased their lead with two more goals. This time the goals came from Jordan Singer (Fr.-Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) and Brant Marple (Sr.-Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview).

St. Thomas tried to get back into the game, scoring goals at the end of the second and beginning of the third periods to cut Eau Claire's lead just one, but the Blugolds closed the door with three more third-period scores.

Joe Bluhm (Sr.-Red Wing, Minn.) added the first at 5:58 while Ross Janecyk (Jr.-Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central) scored at 15:59 and Tyler Weigel (Sr.-Madison, Wis./Oregon) found the back of the net at 19:38.

The Blugolds finished outshooting the Tommies 42-28. Brandon Stephenson (Fr.-Saline, Mich.) was in the net the entire game for the Blugolds and stopped 25 Tommie shots to improve to 2-2-3 on the season.

Next up, the Blugolds will start a five-game home stand next weekend. The first two games will be against St. Norbert College (Minn.) on Friday and Saturday. Both games are set to get underway at 7 p.m.