Box Score
SUPERIOR – The UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team saw its Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) tournament run come to an end on Saturday evening with a 4-2 loss to the Yellowjackets of UW-Superior in the semifinal round of the league's postseason tournament.
UW-Superior took a 1-0 lead in the game's opening minutes as Justin Faryna scored unassisted just 3:53 in to give the host Yellowjackets an early advantage.
Kyle Politz (Apple Valley, MN/Apple Valley) evened the score for the Pointers at the 14:55 mark with a goal assisted by Garrett Suter (Madison/Oregon) and Harrison Niemann (Canton, MI/Novi).
Superior jumped back in front with back-to-back goals in the first four-plus minutes of the second period as Kyle Leahy and Tyler Klein helped pushed the 'Jacket lead to 3-1.
Chad Boeckman (St. Louis, MO/Wentzville Holt) cut the deficit back to a single goal at 3-2 with a goal at the 4:44 mark of the second period off a pass from Suter and Luke Nesper (Eagle River, WI/Northland Pines).
Midway through the second Superior added another goal, this time from Talon Berlando, to once again push the lead back to two, 4-2.
In the third, Superior goaltender Drew Strandberg turned away all 14 of UWSP's shots on target as the Yellowjackets skated to the victory.
Nick Graves (Hewitt, WI/Ashwaubenon) netted 28 saves on the evening but it was not enough to extend the Pointers season.
Superior (16-11-1) advances to face top-seeded St. Norbert College next Saturday, March 5th in De Pere in the NCHA Championship game. The winner receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.
UW-Stevens Point's season ends with a record of 13-14-1.
For future information on the UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team, check back to athletics.uwsp.edu.
