EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The ninth ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team continued Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play on Saturday evening as they host UW-Stout for the first matchup of the "War on 94" rivalry series of the year. Despite early Blugold goals in the three regulation periods, an overtime period was needed to decide a winner.
Kyler Grundy (Jr. – Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Indian Trail Academy) was crowned the hero with the game winning goal 78 seconds into the extra period to lift UW-Eau Claire over the Blue Devils, 4-3.
UW-Eau Claire wasted no time finding an early edge in the game as
Connor Szmul (Sr. – Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View) broke free and tapped in his third goal of the season on a rink wide pass from
Sammy Martel (Sr. – Bolingbrook, Ill./Nequa Valley) to give the Blugolds an early 1-0 lead just 92 seconds into the game. UWEC kept control the remainder of the opening period as they outshot Stout 11-6 and held their lead into the first intermission.
In the second period, the Blugolds came out fast once again as
Quinn Green (Sr. – West Chicago, Ill./St. Charles East) cleaned up a loose puck front of the net to extend the Eau Claire lead to 2-0 in the opening five minutes of the second frame.
Connor Szmul and Trenton Heyde (So. – Atlanta, Ga./Grayson) earned assists on Green's second goal and seventh point of the season. Before the end of the period, UW-Stout found their first goal of the game with under five minutes left in the frame to cut the UWEC lead to 2-1 as both teams hit the locker rooms for the second intermission.
The final period of regulation had fans on their feet from the beginning as
Tyler Herzberg (Fr. – Germantown, Wis./Univ. School of Milwaukee) found the back of the net just 68 seconds into the third frame to extend the Blugold lead back to two goals. Herzberg's goal on an odd man rush was assisted by Leo Bacallo (So. – Madison, Wis./Vel Phillips Memorial) and
Tyler Love (Gr. – Pittsburgh, Pa./Moon Area). UW-Stout refused to go down without a fight as the Blue Devils answered minutes later to cut the UWEC lead to 3-2. As the intensity and physicality increased, the Blugolds stayed sound on the penalty kill as they finished the night with five successful short-handed scenarios. UW-Stout kept the pressure on Eau Claire as they found the tying goal at the 12:49 mark of the third period. With both sides finding opportunities in the final minutes of regulation, neither team found the back of the net as the two rivals would need overtime to decide the winner.
In overtime,
Kyler Grundy (Jr. – Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Indian Trail Academy) stepped up in the spotlight and was crowned the hero as he made a toe-drag move around a defender and found the top left corner of the net to win the game 4-3 for UW-Eau Claire. Grundy's game winning goal was assisted by
Colin Stein (Jr. – Pewaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial) and
Leo Bacallao.
Max Gutjahr (So. – Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) stopped 16 of the 19 shots he faced in his seventh win of the season. Gutjahr is now 7-1-1 on the year.
The Blugolds (8-2-1, WIAC 4-1) will have a pair of WIAC games before finals and Christmas break as they host the opening game of a home-and-home series with eighth ranked UW-Stevens Point on Friday, December 8
th. Puck drop at Hobbs Ice Arena is set for 7 p.m.
