STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Riding a six-game winning streak, the No. 3/4 UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team returns to Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play against two ranked teams in No. 7/8 UW-Eau Claire and No. 11/13 UW-River Falls this weekend.

THE BASICS
Who: No. 3/4 UW-Stevens Point (12-3-1, 1-1 WIAC) at No. 7/10 UW-Eau Claire (11-4-2, 1-1 WIAC)
When: Friday, Jan. 22 - 7 p.m.
Where: Hobbs Ice Arena - Eau Claire, Wis.
 
Who: No.11/13 UW-River Falls (11-4-3, 2-0 WIAC) at No. 3/4 UW-Stevens Point (12-3-1, 1-1 WIAC)
When: Saturday, Jan. 23 - 7 p.m.
Where: K.B. Willett Arena - Stevens Point, Wis.
 
FOLLOW THE GAMES
Tom Weaver and Shaun McMahon will provide coverage of the games on SportsFan100.5 on espn1005.com and on the Tune-in Radio app by searching WDTX.
 
Live video – Friday | Saturday
Live stats – Friday | Saturday
Live audio – Friday | Saturday
 
LAST TIME OUT
On Friday, Kyle Sharkey (Moore, OK/Insight School of Kansas) found the back of the net twice and Lawrence Cornellier (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) and Alex Brooks (Grand Rapids, MI) each recorded three assists to give the Pointers a 6-2 victory over Saint Mary's in Winona. The Pointers tallied twice in each period held the high-scoring Cardinals to just two goals.
 
On Saturday, Tanner Karty (Oklahoma City, OK) scored a pair of goals to lead UWSP to a 4-1 victory over Augsburg. Karty's two goals gave him three for the weekend and four in as many games this season. Augsburg entered the game winning eight of its last 10 contests but Max Milosek (Lapeer, MI) made 25 saves to earn his ninth win of the season.
 
ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS

WIN STREAK
UW-Stevens Point has won six games in a row, matching the team's six-game winning streak to start the season. Prior to this season, the last six-game winning streak for the Pointers was a nine-game run to start the 2013-14 season.
 
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
UW-Stevens Point boasts the top penalty-killing unit in the country, having allowed three power-play goals on 53 attempts for a penalty-killing percentage of 94.3 percent. The Pointers have killed off 20 consecutive penalties dating back to Dec. 4 against UW-River Falls. Last season, UWSP's penalty kill finished at 77.7 percent (80-for-103).
 
ON THE POWER PLAY
The Pointers rank 11th in the country on the power play, converting at 24.3 percent (18-for-74) this season. UW-Stevens Point had scored six power-play goals in its last four games prior to the win at Augsburg.

POINT STREAKS
Cornellier, Brooks and Jono Davis (La Verne, CA) each have recorded at least one point in each of UW-Stevens Point's six consecutive wins. Cornellier has 12 points (5-7-12) in the last six games and has at least a point in nine of the last 10 games. Davis has 11 points (6-5-11) and Brooks has nine (2-7-9) over the stretch.
 
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
UW-Stevens Point will face its third and fourth ranked opponents of the season this weekend in the nationally-ranked Blugolds and Falcons. The Pointers dropped their first two games against ranked ranked teams, falling 5-2 to then-No. 8 St. Norbert on Nov. 21 and 3-2 to then-No. 6 Adrian on Nov. 28. St. Norbert and Adrian are now the top two teams in both the D3hockey.com and USCHO.com polls.
 
The Pointers were 7-4 against ranked teams last season, including 2-1 against both the Falcons and Blugolds as a ranked team.
 
IN THE RANKINGS | USCHO.COM POLL | D3HOCKEY.COM POLL
UW-Stevens Point rose one spot to No. 3 in the USCHO.com poll and stayed steady at No. 4 in the D3hockey.com poll this week. The Pointers have been ranked for 48 consecutive USCHO.com polls and 45 straight D3hockey.com polls.
 
ABOUT UW-EAU CLAIRE | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
UW-Eau Claire enters the weekend with a record of 11-4-2, including a 1-1-0 conference mark, and is ranked No. 7/8. Last weekend, the Blugolds split a pair of games against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opponents. On Friday, UWEC scored two goals in the third period to defeat Augsburg 2-1. The following night, UW-Eau Claire dropped the weekend finale 2-0 to St. Thomas.
 
The Blugolds are led by junior forward Adam Knochenmus (16-7-23), who is in the top 20 nationally, averaging 1.35 points per game. UWEC goaltender Tyler Green is ranked third in the country with a goal-against average of 1.37.
 
UW-Eau Claire has the second-best power-play unit in the country at 29.6 percent (21-for-71) and is 11th on the penalty kill at 88.7 percent (63-for-71).
 
ABOUT UW-RIVER FALLS | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
UW-River Falls begins the weekend ranked No. 11/13 in the country with an 11-4-3 record. The Falcons lead the WIAC at 2-0 with wins over both UW-Stevens Point and UW-Eau Claire. Last weekend, UWRF took on a pair of MIAC schools, tying Bethel 2-2 on a goal with seven seconds left in the third and blanking Gustavus 3-0 behind 18 saves from Tanner Milliron.
 
UW-River Falls is currently on a 10-game unbeaten streak (8-0-2), the third longest in the country. The Falcons have not lost since a 2-1 home loss to M.S.O.E. on Nov. 21.
 
The Falcons are led by Kyle Gattelaro (7-7-14) and Joe Drapulak (6-8-14). Milliron is 14th in the nation amongst goaltenders with a goals-against average of 1.71.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
UW-Stevens Point leads the all-time series with UW-Eau Claire with a record of 73-33-6. Last season, the Pointers went 2-1 against UWEC, including a split of a two-game series in Eau Claire. The Pointers outscored the Blugolds 10-7 last season. In their last 10 meetings, the Pointers have gone 7-3, including going 3-1 at Hobbs Ice Arena.
 
UW-River Falls currently leads the series with UW-Stevens Point 59-49-8. The two teams squared off on Dec. 4 in River Falls, where the Pointers fell 3-2. Last season, the two teams met four times, including the WIAC Championship game where UWRF picked up its lone victory against the Pointers in 2014-15. In his time at UWSP, Coach Brooks has a record of 7-7-2 against UW-River Falls.
 
THE COACHES
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 86-38-9 (.680) and has led the Pointers to back-to-back national runner-up finishes. In 2013-14, 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. Brooks played four seasons at Western Michigan (1992-96) and finished his career as the eighth-leading scorer in school history, compiling 184 points on 57 goals and 127 assists.
 
Matt Loen is in his eighth season as the head coach at UW-Eau Claire. In 2012-2013 Loen led the Blugolds to the NCAA Division III National Championship in Lake Placid, New York. That year, Loen was named the USCHO and D3Hockey.com National Coach of the Year. The Blugolds also won the NCHA and WIAC championships in 2012-2013. Loen graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 1995 and was a First Team All-American and NCHA Player of the Year in 1994-1995. In 1994 and 1995, he was a first team All-NCHA selection and in 1994 he was an All-Wisconsin State University Conference (WSUC) selection.
 
Steve Freeman is in his 20th season at UW-River Falls. He is the program's all-time leader in games won with a career record of 343-176-42 (.649). In 2014-15, Freeman led the Falcons to the WIAC playoff championship and a 20-7-1 record, including a 13-game winning streak to start the season. Freeman has been named WIAC Coach of the Year 11 times in his career at UW-River Falls. Freeman is the WIAC's all-time leader in games won and has led the team to WIAC championships in 11 of the past 15 seasons. Before being named head coach, Freeman was the top assistant at UWRF for seven seasons.