STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The No. 2-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team begins its 2015-16 season with a pair of road games at Aurora (Ill.) and Lawrence this weekend as the Pointers look to put together a third consecutive run to the national championship game.

THE BASICS
Who: No. 2 UW-Stevens Point at Aurora University (Ill.) | No. 2 UW-Stevens Point at Lawrence
When: Friday Oct. 30—7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 31—7 p.m.
Where: Geneva, Ill.—Fox Valley Ice Arena | Appleton, Wis. – Appleton Family Ice Arena

FOLLOW THE GAMES
Tom Weaver and Shaun McMahon will bring coverage of Pointer men's hockey all season long. Coverage of Friday night's matchup against Aurora can be heard on ESPN 1230 at 1230wxco.com or the Tune-In Radio app by searching WXCO. Saturday's game against Lawrence can be heard on Sports fan 100.5, on sportsfan100.5.com and on Tune-In at WDTX.
Live Stats (Aurora)
Live Video (Aurora)
Live Video (Lawrence)

ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS ('14-15)
 
OFFENSIVE PRESENCE
This season, the Pointers return their two top point producers in Joe Kalisz (Davison, MI/Davison) and Kyle Sharkey (Moore, OK/Insight School of Kansas). Sharkey and Kalisz both averaged over a point per game this past season. Defenseman Alex Brooks (Grand Rapids, MI) also notched 26 points, which topped the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) for points as a defenseman. This past season, the trio combined for a total of 90 of the team's 340 points.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
UW-Stevens Point will need to replace All-WIAC goaltender Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, MN/Champlin Park) after Jaeger graduated in the spring. Jaeger left his mark on the UWSP program, setting records for career wins (62), saves (2,037) and shutouts (11) in 91 games in net.

Three goaltenders will compete for the starting job. Sophomore Max Milosek (Lapeer, MI) returns after appearing in two games last season, including a 23-save performance against Hamline on Jan. 10. Joining Millosek is a pair of goaltenders with experience. Sophomore P.J. Bridges (Waterford, MI) comes to UWSP after spending a season at Western Michigan University. Before his time at WMU, Bridges was the NAHL Goaltender of the Year for the Topeka Roadrunners in 2014. Freshman Jesse Gordichuk (Penticton, BC) compiled a .925 save percentage in three seasons junior hockey. In 2014-15, Gordichuck played with fellow Pointer newcomer B.J. Duffin (Red Deer, AB) for the Olds Grizzlys of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

FAST STARTERS
In their last 15 season openers, the Pointers have compiled a record of 10-5, including three consecutive wins. Last season, UW-Stevens Point opened the season with an 11-0 rout of Finlandia at home. The Pointers are 2-1 in their last three openers away from Stevens Point.

IN THE RANKINGS
The Pointers begin the season being ranked No.2 in the D3hockey.com Men's Top 10 preseason poll. This season, the Pointers will take on four opponents also ranked in the top 10, which includes national semifinalist Adrian, which is ranked one place behind UWSP.

THE COACHES
Head coach Chris Brooks enters his fifth season behind the bench at UW-Stevens Point with a record of 74-35-8 (.667). Brooks has led to Pointers to back-to-back NCAA runner up finishes in 2014 and 2015. The 2014-15 team went 23-7-1 overall and won its first regular season conference championship since 1999-2000, the program's 10th overall. The back-to-back 20-win seasons were the program's first since 1991-92 and 1992-93. The Pointers were again ranked in both national polls throughout the 2014-15 season, including being in the D3hockey.com top five for 14 of 16 weeks. UWSP concluded the season ranked second in the country for the second season in a row.

Ryan Buchanan is in his second season as head coach for Aurora University. In their first season of NCAA play in 2014-15, the Spartans compiled a record of 1-15-1 (.088). Before being named the first coach in program history, Buchanan served as the ACHA head coach at Aurora from 2012-2014.

Lawrence head coach Mike Szkodzinksi enters his 10th season at Lawrence. Mike Szkodzinski took over the Lawrence University hockey program for the 2006-07 season and is the most successful coach in Vikings' history. Szkodzinski holds a career record of 97-133-19 (.428). Szkodzinki has also served as Lawrence University's athletic director since 2009.

LAST YEAR
In the 2014-2015 season, the UW-Stevens Point recorded a 23-7-1 record, including a 10-2 mark against conference opponents. The Pointers advanced to the national championship game, finishing as the national runner-up for the second straight season after falling to Trinity (Conn.) 5-2.

ABOUT AURORA | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS ('14-15)
In their first season of NCAA play, Aurora University played a schedule against a combination of NCAA and ACHA opponents. The Spartans finished with a record of 1-15-1 against NCAA opponents and finished 7-16-1 overall. The programs first ever win came against St. Mary's University by a score of 6-3 on Dec. 5.

ABOUT LAWRENCE | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS ('14-15)
This past season Lawrence finished 7-19-1, posting a 6-12 record against NCHA opponents. Lawrence advanced to the NCHA tournament before being eliminated by St. Norbert in the quarterfinal round by losing the series by scores of 5-0 and 6-0.

SERIES NOTES
The Pointers will square off against Aurora University for the first time. Aurora University began NCAA play in the 2014-15 season.

UWSP will take on Lawrence for the eighth time in program history. UWSP currently holds a 6-1-0 record against the Vikings and is unbeaten in Appleton. Lawrence's only victory came in 2010 when they defeated the Pointers 5-4 at K.B. Willett Arena.

UP NEXT
The Pointers will return home to K.B. Willett Arena where they will take on a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opponents. On Friday Nov. 6, UWSP will host Gustavus Adolphus for Parents Weekend. The following night, UW-Stevens Point returns to action taking on Bethel University for the canned food drive for the Cupboard. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.