STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's hockey team was back in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament championship on Saturday for the third consecutive year. UW-Eau Claire battled with the #6 ranked UW-Stevens Point Pointers for the Commissioner's Cup trophy and an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. A lopsided first period gave the Blugolds a multi-goal deficit that wouldn't be broke as they fell 5-1 to end their season.
An early Eau Claire powerplay held an opportunity to set the tone on the road for the Blugolds as their offense started to find its groove. The defensive units for UWSP stood strong against the Blugold attack and shifted the momentum away from the visitors after the initial powerplay completed. Back-to-back goals at the 5:30 and 6:08 marks gave Stevens Point a two-goal lead. Despite out shooting Stevens Point 14-11 in the first frame, the Blugolds surrendered a third goal before the first intermission as they trailed 3-0 after 20 minutes of play.
The second period began with UWEC on the downside of things as UWSP increased their lead to 4-0 in the first 90 seconds of the frame. The Blugolds never quit all night as they continued to battle hard and ended the game out shooting the Pointers, 42-25. Just over three minutes into the second period,
Kyler Grundy (Jr. – Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Indian Trail Academy) capitalized on the powerplay for Eau Claire with a wrist shot into the top corner to cut their deficit back to three goals.
Quinn Green (Sr.– West Chicago, Ill./St Charles East) and
Willy Stauber (Sr. – Duluth, Minn./Marshall) earned assists on Grundy's 12
th goal of the season. The lone Blugold goal of the night would be matched by the home squad at the 17:19 mark of the second as UWSP found their eventual final goal of the evening to make it 5-1 before the second intermission.
The third period featured an aggressive attack by the Blugolds, but the Stevens Point goalie and defense never broke as they handed UWEC their ninth loss of the season.
Max Gutjahr (So. – Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) stopped 20 of the 25 shots he faced in his ninth loss of the year. Gutjahr finishes the season with an overall record of 16-9-2.
The Blugolds wrap up their season with their second consecutive runner-up finish in the Commissioner's Cup with an overall record of 17-9-2 and a regular season conference record of 10-4-1.
