MENOMONIE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The 15
th ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team played in their final regular season game on Saturday as they concluded the "War on 94" weekend series with UW-Stout. A goal in each period powered the Blugolds over the Blue Devils for the 3-1 win to wrap up the regular season.
A physical game brought energy and pace to the arena with a 2
nd seed in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament on the line, it was UW-Eau Claire finding the first tally of the night.
Sammy Martel (Sr. – Bolingbrook, Ill./Nequa Valley) lit the lamp at 11:12 of the opening period on a redirection in the slot to give UWEC a 1-0 lead. Martel's fifth goal of the season was assisted by
Quinn Green (Sr. – West Chicago, Ill./ St. Charles East) and
Kyler Grundy (Jr. – Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Indian Trail Academy). Despite being outshot in the first period 12-5, Eau Claire hit the locker room in the first intermission with their 1-0 lead.
In the second period, UW-Stout evened the score at 9:58 of the middle frame with a shot from the left half wall to make it 1-1. Just 30 seconds later,
Kyler Grundy got the Blugolds back in front with a short side shot that beat the Stout netminder under the blocker, giving UWEC a 2-1 lead. The Blugolds found their momentum in the second by out shooting the Blue Devils 13-4 as they kept their one goal lead into the second intermission.
The final period held a back-and-forth effort from both squads as battled till the very end. With the Stout net empty in the final four minutes of play,
Willy Stauber (Sr. – Duluth, Minn./Marshall) found a pass from
Kyler Grundy in the neutral zone and buried his second goal of the season to seal the 3-1 victory.
Max Gutjahr (So. – Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced in his 15
th win of the year. Gutjahr is now 15-7-2 on the season.
The Blugolds (16-7-2, WIAC 10-4-1) earn the second seed in the WIAC Commissioner's Cup and receive a bye in the first round. UWEC will take next weekend off and will host the WIAC tournament semifinals on February 23
rd and 24
th.
