ASHLAND, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The #6 ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's hockey team were on the road for the final time this season on Saturday as they concluded their Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) series with Northland College. After a scoreless opening period, the Blugolds erupted for seven goals in the final two periods to secure the 7-1 and complete the series sweep.
Despite no goals being scored in the opening frame, UW-Eau Claire out shot Northland 15-3 as they kept their offensive pressure high from the night before. It wasn't until the second period that UWEC found their first tally of the game as
Eden Gruber (Sr. – Wausau, Wis./Wausau West) netted her eighth goal of the season to earn a 1-0 for the Blugolds. Gruber's power play goal at 6:02 of the second was assisted by
Quinn Hartmetz (Jr. – Phoenixville, Pa./Gilmour Academy) and
Keira Bolt (So. – Boise, Idaho).
Just 19 seconds later,
Keira Bolt added a goal of her own to increase the Blugold lead to 2-0.
Sadie Long (Jr. – Farmington, Minn.) started her big night off with an assist on Bolt's third goal of the year. Just after the halfway mark of the contest,
Taylar Meier (Sr. – River Falls, Wis./Columbine) found her first goal of the season to increase the Eau Claire lead to 3-0.
Sadie Long led the Blugold during the afternoon matchup with two power play goals 104 seconds apart to send UWEC into the second intermission with a 5-0 lead.
In the third, Northland found their lone goal of the game at the 7:18 mark, but the Eau Claire defense kept themselves in control with goals from
Sophie Rausch (Sr. – Fergus Falls, Minn.) and
Sydney Johnson (Sr. – Apple Valley, Minn.) to deal the 7-1 win for UWEC.
Alexa Backmann (Fr. – Saint Michael, Minn./Rogers) stopped 13 of the 14 shots she faced to earn her 11th win of the season. Backmann is now 11-3-0 on the year.
The Blugolds (19-5-0, WIAC 9-2-0) will wrap up their regular season on Saturday, February 17
th with a home game against #1 ranked, UW-River Falls. Puck drop from Hobbs Ice Arena is set for 2 p.m.
