MENOMONIE, Wis. – The UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team moved one step closer to clinching a home playoff series, rolling to an 8-3 win over the Blue Devils of UW-Stout on Thursday evening at the Dunn County Ice Arena.

Box Score

UW-Stevens Point enters the final weekend of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) regular series needing a pair of wins and some help to lock down a home series in the final postseason tournament in league history.

Just 1:04 into the game, the host Blue Devils took an early lead, as Matt Millis scored on a fluke bounce of the puck, putting Stout in front 1-0.

UWSP responded later in the first, as Garrett Ladd (Fenton, MI/Fenton) and Evan Dixon (Novi, MI/) scored goals in the final minutes of the opening frame to give the Pointers a 2-1 edge after one.

The second period was all Pointers, as Kyle Heck (Plover, WI/SPASH), Andrew Kolb (Toledo, OH/Toledo Catholic), and Kyle Politz (Apple Valley, MN/Apple Valley) all tallied goals to extend the UWSP lead to 5-1 after two.

In the third, Josh Daley (Pittsburgh, PA/Bishop Canevin Catholic) scored his seventh goal of the season, giving UWSP the 6-1 advantage.

Stout responded with a goal midway through the third but Ladd and Kolb each tallied their second goals of the evening to extend the UWSP lead to 8-2.

A late power play goal by the Blue Devils made the final 8-3.

Six different Pointers scored while Kolb and Dixon each recorded two goals and an assist to help the Pointers complete the three-game season series sweep. Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, MN/Champlin Park) stopped 22 of the 25 shots on net taken by the Blue Devils.

UW-Stevens Point (14-9-1, 8-8-1 NCHA) closes out the regular season on Saturday evening, Feb. 9 against St. Norbert College at K.B. Willett Arena. Face-off for Senior Night is scheduled for 7 p.m. One lucky fan will win a big screen TV.