Box Score

STEVENS POINT – The UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team fell to No. 7-ranked St. Norbert College 3-1 tonight in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) opener at Willett Arena.

 The loss snaps the Pointers three-game winning streak and drops them to 3-2-0 overall. The Green Knights improve to 5-1-0 overall and St. Norbert head coach Tim Coghlin picked up his 300th career victory.

The Pointers got up on the seventh-ranked Green Knights as Tom Upton (Austin, TX/Westwood) (So.-Austin, TX/Westwood) scored 10 minutes into the first period to give Stevens Point a 1-0 lead. Nick Bydal (East Grand Forks, MN/East Grand Forks) (Jr.-East Grand Forks, MN) assisted the goal. St. Norbert tied the contest up with 2:25 remaining in the first period as Cory Harder put the puck in the net.

The Green Knights then took advantage of a Pointer penalty and Marc Belanger gave St. Norbert a 2-1 lead on a power play goal with 5:57 remaining in the second period. St. Norbert had a 15-7 shot advantage in the second period.

The Green Knights then added insurance in the third period as Matt Boyd scored a little less than six minutes into the third period to give St. Norbert a 3-1 advantage. That would be the final as the Green Knights defeat the Pointers for the 11th time in the last 12 meetings.

 St. Norbert had a slight edge in shots 28-27. The Green Knights committed 13 penalties, while the Pointers had 11 infractions. Marcus Paulson (Eden Prairie, MN/Eden Prairie) (Jr.-Eden Prairie, MN) had 25 saves in the defeat, while Kyle Jones had 26 saves in the victory.

 The Pointers will face another NCHA opponent tomorrow when they host Lake Forest College. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. at Willett Arena.