STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The fourth-ranked and top-seeded UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team was held to a 1-1 tie by fifth-seeded UW-Superior in the first game of a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship semifinal series on Friday night at K.B. Willett Arena.
 
Box Score
 
Kyle Sharkey (Moore, OK/Insight School of Kansas) gave UW-Stevens Point (20-5-1) an early lead but Eric Shand's third-period goal tied the score for UW-Superior (9-17-1). Neither team was able to find a winning goal in the final 18 minutes of the third period or in the five-minute overtime.
 
The tie is the first of the season for the Pointers and is the team's first since tying the Yellowjackets 4-4 on Jan. 24, 2014 at K.B. Willett Arena.
 
Sharkey lit the lamp for the 15th time this season at 5:22 of the opening period off assists by Joe Kalisz (Davison, MI/Davison) and Scott Henegar (Trenton, MI/Trenton). The sophomore's 15 goals are one shy of Kalisz's team-high 16.
 
The score remained 1-0 UWSP until Shand scored 1:53 into the third period for UW-Superior. The Pointers had a chance on the power play in the third period but Bryce Fink made four saves to keep the score tied at 1-1.
 
UW-Stevens Point had three shots on goal in the overtime, while UW-Superior had two. Fink made 26 stops in the game and Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, MN/Champlin Park) made 28. Jaeger was playing in his 86th career game, breaking Todd Chin's (1988-92) program record.
 
The Yellowjackets had four power-play opportunities in the game and mustered 10 shots but did not score on the man advantage. The Pointers were 0-for-2 on the power play.
 
The two teams will decide the series on Saturday, Feb. 28 with a 7 p.m. game at K.B. Willett Arena. UW-River Falls edged UW-Eau Claire 4-3 in the first game of the other semifinal series and the winners of the two series will play for the WIAC Championship.