STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The fifth-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team raced out to a 5-1 lead and held on for a 7-5 victory over UW-Stout in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play on Saturday night at K.B. Willett Arena.
 
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UW-Stevens Point (8-2-0, 2-0-0) scored three goals in the first half of the second period to go up 5-1 but then saw UW-Stout (2-7-1, 0-2-0 WIAC) score three power-play goals in 2:10 to get within one at 5-4. Third-period goals by Nick D'Avolio (North Riverside, IL) and Joe Kalisz (Davison, MI/Davison) ensured the win for the Pointers.
 
UWSP led 2-0 after a period behind goals by Joe Kalisz (Davison, MI/Davison) and Alex Kromm (Penticton, BC) but the Blue Devils pulled one back 40 seconds into the second period on a goal by Craig Lindegard. UW-Stevens Point responded with power-play goals by Kyle Brodie (Denver, CO/Northglenn) and Andrew Kolb (Toledo, OH/Toledo Catholic) in the space of 1:10 early in the second to go up 4-1.
 
Five and a half minutes later, Evan Dixon (Novi, MI) tallied his second goal of the season to give the Pointers a commanding 5-1 lead. The Blue Devils' comeback started with a 5-on-3 goal by Joey Haydock at 13:08 of the second before Haydock scored on the power-play just 30 seconds later. Another power-play goal, this time from Lindegard, got UW-Stout within one with under five minutes to go in the second period.
 
UW-Stevens Point re-established a two-goal lead behind an unassisted goal from Nick D'Avolio (North Riverside, IL), his fourth of the season, 1:23 into the final period. Once again, UW-Stout inched within one after a goal by Shayne McLaughlin at 6:32.
 
Kalisz scored his second of the night and his team-best seventh this season inside the final five minutes, as the junior re-directed a shot by Mark Bittner (Crookston, MN/Crookston).
 
The Pointers outshot the Blue Devils 43-31 in the game, led by Brodie's six shots. Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, MN/Champlin Park) picked up the win by making 26 saves, while Spencer Viele (Wildwood, MO/Lafayette) had 36 stops for UW-Stout in the loss.
 
UW-Stevens Point takes a break from WIAC play with a game at Marian on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 4 p.m.