STEVENS POINT, Wis. – After a 16-goal opening weekend, the second-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team brings its high-scoring offense to its home ice for the first time this season for a pair of matchups with Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) teams on Friday and Saturday evenings.
 
THE BASICS
 
Game 1: Gustavus Adolphus (1-0-1) at No. 2 UW-Stevens Point (2-0-0)
Date: Friday, Nov. 6 - 7 p.m.
Location: Stevens Point, Wis. – K.B. Willett Arena - Parents Weekend
 
Game 2: Bethel (0-1-1) at No. 2 UW-Stevens Point (2-0-0)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 7 - 7 p.m.
Location: Stevens Point, Wis. – K.B. Willett Arena - Canned Food Drive for The Cupboard
 
FOLLOW THE GAMES
 Tom Weaver and Shaun McMahon will bring coverage of the Pointers all season long on SportsFan 100.5 on espn1005.com and on the Tune-In Radio app by searching WDTX. All UWSP home games will also feature live video and live stats at the links below.

Live Video
Live Stats
 
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FAST OUT OF THE GATE
The Pointers won their first two games in dominating fashion by beating Aurora (Ill.) 7-3 and Lawrence 9-1 last weekend. UW-Stevens Point has scored at least 15 goals in their first two games of the season for three consecutive seasons. In 2014-15, the Pointers topped Finlandia 11-0 and Gustavus Adolphus 4-1. The year before, UWSP swept Finlandia by 6-1 and 11-0 scores. The pair of wins last weekend give the Pointers three consecutive opening-weekend sweeps over the last three seasons.

HIGH-POWERED OFFENSE
Through two games this season, 16 players have recorded points for UW-Stevens Point. Joe Kalisz (Davison, MI/Davison) leads the Pointers in goals after netting two against Lawrence on Saturday. Joe Kalisz (Davison, MI/Davison) leads the way with five points (3G, 2A), which ranks tied for third in the country in scoring. Eliot Grauer (Mukilteo, WA/Kamiak), Nathan Harris (Fowlerville, MI) and Alex Kromm (Penticton, BC) each have four points. Nine different players have recorded multi-point nights, which also includes Lawrence Cornellier (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) and Kyle Sharkey (Moore, OK/Insight School of Kansas) who both have had multi-goal nights.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS SUCCESS
UW-Stevens Point's special teams units have performed well in the first two games of the season. The Pointers' power play has gone 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) through two games, which is double last season's rate of 23.1 percent (27-for-117). Against Lawrence, UWSP was 4-for-6 with the man advantage, including two power-play goals by Sharkey. The last time the Pointers had scored four power-play goals in a game was Oct. 25, 2008 in a 10-0 win over Northland, a span of 199 games prior to Saturday.
 
The penalty-kill unit has yet to allow a goal on seven tries this season, after opponents converted 22.3 percent of the time (23-for-103) last season.
 
NEW FACES IN NET
 
Through the first two games, the Pointers have only allowed four goals behind goaltenders Max Milosek (Lapeer, MI) and Jesse Gordichuk (Penticton, BC), who both recorded their first career wins in their starts last weekend. In the season opener against Aurora, Milosek made 22 saves, while also recording his first-career point assisting Eliot Grauer (Mukilteo, WA/Kamiak)'s second-period goal. After allowing one first period goal, freshman goaltender Jesse Gordichuk (Penticton, BC) shut the door, making 28 stops on 29 shots against Lawrence. Gordichuk made 14 of his 28 saves in the second period alone.
 
IN THE RANKINGS | D3HOCKEY.COM | USCHO.COM
 
UW-Stevens Point held steady in both national polls this week, coming in at No. 2 in both the D3hockey.com and USCHO.com rankings. The Pointers picked up one more first-place vote in both polls and now have two. Trinity (Conn.) remains atop the polls and does not play its first game until Nov. 20.
 
THE COACHES
 
Head coach Chris Brooks is in his fifth season at the helm of the UW-Stevens Point men's hockey program. Brooks currently holds a record of 76-35-8 (.672). In 2014, he was named a finalist for the Edward Jeremiah Award, given to the Division III Coach of the Year. The 2014-15 team went 23-7-1 overall and won the program's first regular season conference championship since 1999-2000.
 
Brett Petersen is entering his 16th season as the head coach of the Gustavus Adolphus men's hockey team in 2015. In his 15-year tenure behind the Gustavus bench, Petersen has compiled a 206-157-40 (.561) overall record. Peterson has been named MIAC Coach of the Year twice, once in 2001-02 after helping the Gusties make the jump from ninth place the year before to a second-place finish in the conference, and again in 2009-10 after leading the Gusties to their first MIAC title since 1993.
 
Bethel head coach Mike Burggraf took over the Bethel men's hockey program in 2010 after four seasons leading the Bethel women. In his time leading the Bethel men, Burggraf has compiled a record of 53-89-10 (.381). Burggraf increased Bethel's conference record in each of his first three seasons.
 
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This past weekend, Gustavus Adolphus played a pair of MIAC opponents at the MIAC Showcase in Blaine, Minn. On Friday night, the Gusties defeated Saint Mary's (Minn.) 5-4 after a goal by Tim Donahue with just 25 seconds remaining in regulation. The next night against Hamline, Gustavus again scored late on a power-play goal with Jake Bushey to send the game to overtime but the teams settled for a 3-3 tie.
 
Gustavus was picked to finish seventh in the MIAC this season. The Gusties were 8-9-8 overall a year ago and were seventh in the MIAC with a 5-5-6 conference record. The eight ties set a single-season Division III record and the five MIAC wins were the fewest for Gustavus under Petersen.
 
The 2015-16 season is the 74th season of Gustavus men's hockey and the Gusties boast an all-time record of 857-627-76 and are 569-429-48 in the MIAC. The Gusties have won 14 MIAC Championships and have made six NCAA Tournament appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2009.
 
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Bethel also played in the MIAC Showcase last weekend and went 0-1-1. The Royals tied St. Olaf 5-5 on Friday night in their season opener as both teams scored at least one goal in every period. Although the game went in the record book as a tie, St. Olaf won the shutout 2-1. The MIAC is the only conference in all of collegiate hockey to employ shootouts but the result of the shootout only holds weight during conference play, as the winner gains an extra point.
 
On Saturday, the Royals fell to Concordia-Moorhead 3-2 and were outshot 41-21. Before coming to Stevens Point, the Royals will take on UW-Stout in Menominee, Wis. on Friday, Nov. 6.
 
Bethel was picked to finish last in the nine-team MIAC after going 2-13-1 in conference play last season and 4-19-2 overall. The Royals are led by senior forward Mitch Hughes, who has amassed 23 points or more in two of his first three seasons. Hughes, who led the league in scoring as a freshman, needs 22 points in 2015-16 to break Bethel's top 25 point-scorers of all-time.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
UW-Stevens Point leads the all-time series with Gustavus 6-5-1. UWSP has won the last three meetings, picking up a win in each of the last three seasons. Last season, No. 2 UW-Stevens Point topped Gustavus 4-1 behind a pair of goals by Cornellier on Nov. 7, 2014. The last Gustavus win came in 2011, when the Gusties defeated the Pointers 2-1 in overtime at K.B. Willett Arena.
 
The Pointers are 8-7-1 all-time against the Royals. Last season, UWSP scored eight goals over the final two periods to top Bethel 9-4 on Put A Check to Cancer Night on Jan. 31, 2014. The last Bethel victory in the series came in 2005, when the Pointers fell 4-3 in St. Paul.
 
UP NEXT
The Pointers will hit the road and head to Minnesota to take on another pair of MIAC opponents in Concordia-Moorhead on Friday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. and Saint John's on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.