Box Score | Coach Nichol Postgame

MENOMONIE – The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) showed again Friday evening it is one of the premier hockey conferences in the country, unfortunately it was at the Pointers expense, as the ninth-ranked Blue Devils of UW-Stout defeated the Pointers 6-3 in conference action at the Dunn County Ice Arena.

The loss drops the Pointers to 2-6 overall, 0-5 against NCHA opponents in the young season.

After Stout took a 1-0 lead early in the first, Donnie Hallmark (Ontario, CA/Ontario Christian) answered for the Pointers 7:22 into the opening period, scoring his third goal of the season and tying the game at 1-1.

Stout answered with two more goals in the first period, on midway through the second and another at 6:03 of the third to pull in front 5-1.

That's when the Pointer offense came alive, as Nic Polaski (Delafield) and Jon Madden (Brighton, MI) scored to cut the deficit to just two goals, 5-3 with just under five minutes remaining in the game.

With time running out on a Pointer comeback, the Blue Devils added an empty net goals with :30 left to play in the game, sealing the 6-3 victory.

Thomas Speer (Janesville) suffered the loss in net for the Pointers, recording 14 saves while UW-Stout's Tom Lescovich stopped 25 Pointer shots to earn the victory.

The Pointers and Blue Devils (3-2-2, 1-2-0 NCHA) return to action on Saturday afternoon. The puck is scheduled to drop a 4 p.m.