UW-Stevens Point peppered Hamline with 57 shots on goal, but had a late rally come up short in a 7-5 loss on Friday at Willett Arena.

The Pointers trailed 6-3 in the third period and put 22 shots on net in the period. UW-Stevens Point got goals from Russel Law and Dan Francis (Roseville, MI/Roseville) in the final 4:06 of the game and had chances with an extra attacker, however, the Pipers' Jim Erickson put in an empty net goal with 22 seconds left to end the comeback.

Hamline goaltender Matt Wanvig stopped 52 shots in the victory and the Pipers were three-for-five on the power play in posting their first win over the Pointers in nine all-time meetings. UW-Stevens Point, ranked ninth in the NCAA Division III, fell to 2-1 overall, while Hamline is 1-2.

The Pipers also got a shorthanded goal just 57 seconds into the game as Dustin Fulton picked off a pass at the point and raced uncontested to a breakaway goal. Hamline went ahead 2-0 when Joe Long scored the first goal of his hat trick at the 7:09 mark. It took the Pointers just 15 seconds to counter as Law scored the first of his two goals, but a power play goal by Long put Hamline up 3-1 after one period.

UW-Stevens Point tied the game with two goals in the first seven minutes of the second period with Ross Johnson (International Falls, MN/Falls) and Sean Fish (Ramsey, MN/Anoka) each netting goals. The game stayed 3-3 until the Pipers got a five-on-three power play late in the period and cashed in with a goal from Matt Buckley with 1:26 left in the second period.

Hamline got a rebound goal from Long and then a power play score from Lee Joos to seemingly put the game away with seven minutes remaining. However, the Pointers tightened the game with the two late goals. Francis' goal came on the power play as the Pointers finished two-for-10 with the man advantage.

UW-Stevens Point sophomore Ryan Miech (Stevens Point/Culver (IN)) made his first career start in goal and finished with 18 saves. The Pointers host 15th-ranked Bethel on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.