EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The ninth ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team was back at home on Friday evening as they jumped back into Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play with the UW-Superior in town. Despite being outshot, UW-Eau Claire capitalized on their opportunities to earn the 4-0 shutout at Hobbs Ice Arena.
With eleven penalties called during the game, Eau Claire took advantage in the first as
Willy Stauber (Sr. – Duluth, Minn./Marshall) found a shooting lane through traffic and beat the Superior netminder to open the scoring with less than two minutes left in the first frame.
Ryan Green (Sr. – Muskego, Wis.) earned the lone assist on Stauber's second powerplay goal of the season.
Ryan Green didn't stop contributing after the opening tally as Green increased the Blugold lead at 7:12 of the second period as he broke free in the middle of the slot on a transition play. Green made a hesitation move before burying the puck through the goalie's legs to make it 2-0 in favor of UWEC.
Tyler Herzberg (Fr. – Germantown, Wis./Univ. School of Milwaukee) and
Quinn Green (Sr. – West Chicago, Ill./St. Charles East) earned assists on Ryan's first goal of the season. Both squads battled for momentum as the period went on, but UW-Eau Claire held on to the 2-0 lead as the two WIAC teams hit the second intermission.
In the third,
Kyle Oleksiuk (Jr. – Winnipeg, Manitoba) and
Sammy Martel (Sr. – Bolingbrook, Ill./Neuqua Valley) broke free from the defensive zone and found themselves a 2-on-1 halfway through the frame. After they entered the offensive zone. Martel slid the puck over to Oleksiuk who found the back of the net for the second time this season to increase the Blugold lead to 3-0.
Sammy Martel recorded his second assist and fifth point of the season as UWEC took full control of the final period. An empty net goal from
Austin Becker (Jr. – Amery, Wis.) sealed the 4-0 win at home as UW-Eau Claire improved to 3-1-0 in WIAC play.
Max Gutjahr (So. – Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) stopped all 23 shots he faced in his second shutout of the season and fifth of his career. Gutjahr is now 6-1-1 on the year.
The Blugolds (7-2-1, WIAC 3-1) will continue WIAC play on Saturday, December 2
nd when they host UW-Stout at Hobbs Ice Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
