BELOIT, Wis. — UW-Eau Claire (5-3-1, 3-0-0) shut out Beloit (2-4-1, 1-2-0) with a decisive 5–0 victory on Thursday night. UW-Eau Claire's goaltender stopped all 14 shots faced, while the team accumulated 59 shots on goal.
The first period saw a flurry of action but remained scoreless between UW-Eau Claire and Beloit. The Blugolds dominated the shot count, with
Trey Gnetz hitting the pipe early and
Luke Lavery registering multiple attempts, all thwarted by Beloit's goaltender, Andrew Yocum. Beloit had its chances as well, with Ben Stewart's early shot saved by
Max Gutjahr. Despite a power play opportunity following a tripping penalty on Sky Solig, Wis.-Eau Claire could not capitalize, and both teams entered intermission with a 0–0 tie.
Trey Gnetz broke the deadlock for the Blugolds at 13:23 of the second period, scoring the only goal of the frame on a setup by
Brent Gulenchyn. Despite Beloit's efforts to respond, including a penalty kill following Joe Weber's holding penalty, Gutjahr remained solid in goal for the visitors. With numerous attempts by both teams, UW-Eau Claire maintained their 1-0 lead going into the intermission, as Yocum made key saves to keep Beloit in contention.
UWEC extended its lead early in the third period with a goal by
Tyler Herzberg at 18:34, assisted by
Carter Green. Just over two minutes later,
Dayne Hoyord netted another, with help from
Logan Ganz, making it 3–0. Lavery added a fourth for the visitors at 13:51, converting a play set up by
Nolan Grier and
Easton Inglis.
Leo Bacallao closed out the scoring at 11:01, securing a decisive 5–0 victory for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire over Beloit, with Gutjahr preserving the shutout.
Trey Gnetz scored the game-winning goal and finished with a plus-minus rating of +2. Bacallao added a goal and maintained a perfect faceoff percentage. Herzberg recorded one goal while winning 64% of his faceoffs. In goal, Gutjahr registered 14 saves in a shutout performance.
The Blugolds stand at 5-3-1 overall and 3-0-0 in conference play after their latest win. Beloit holds a 2-4-1 overall record and a 1-2-0 conference record following the loss.
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