MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – For the second season in a row, the UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team finished as the national runner-up, falling 5-2 to Trinity (Conn.) in the NCAA Division III Championship game on Saturday evening at Ridder Arena.

Box Score
 
Trinity (25-3-1) broke a 2-2 tie with 3:52 remaining on a goal by Ethan Holdaway and added two empty-net goals in the final 1:37 of the game to claim its first national championship. The runner-up finish is the fourth in program history (1992, 1998, 2014, 2015) for UW-Stevens Point (23-7-1), which twice battled back from a goal down to tie the game.
 
"Obviously it's a tough one to swallow," head coach Chris Brooks said of the game. "I'm not sure why we lost tonight but one day I'll find out. Hats off to Trinity, they're an excellent hockey team and are really well-coached."
 
For the second night in a row, the Pointers trailed 2-1 heading to the third period but Nick D'Avolio (North Riverside, IL) knotted the score at 2-2 with his third goal of the Frozen Four, putting home a rebound off a shot by Alex Brooks (Grand Rapids, MI).
 
"We talked in between the second and third and said somebody needed to step up and get a goal," D'Avolio said of the goal. "We got a lot of momentum out of it and they got another one really quick and it took a lot of momentum from us and we couldn't recover."
 
In the first period, UW-Stevens Point and Trinity traded power-play goals, as each team capitalized on too many players on the ice penalties by the opposition. Sean Orlando scored early for the Bantams, opening the scoring at 3:38 of the first, before Kyle Brodie (Denver, CO/Northglenn) blasted home a one-timer to tie the game at 1-1.
 
Michael Hawkrigg scored the only goal of the second period for the Bantams, as he put home a rebound off a shot by Paul Burns, leaving Trinity ahead 2-1 after two periods despite being outshot 25-12.
 
"I thought they (Trinity) came in with a game plan where they started to stretch us out," Brooks commented. "I thought in spurts we did a good job but you can tell they're a really well-coached team. I thought both teams played extremely hard from start to finish."
 
Brooks and Kyle Sharkey (Moore, OK/Insight School of Kansas) each recorded assists on both UW-Stevens Point goals. Brooks and D'Avolio were each named to the All-Tournament team, as Brooks finished with a goal and three assists, while D'Avolio scored three goals.
 
The loss brings a close to the careers of seniors Kyle Brodie (Denver, CO/Northglenn), Andrew Kolb (Toledo, OH/Toledo Catholic), Garrett Ladd (Fenton, MI/Fenton), Justin Hale (Stoughton, WI/Stoughton), Scott Henegar (Trenton, MI/Trenton), Kevin Gibson (Grosse Pointe, MI/North) and Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, MN/Champlin Park). The seven-man senior class had an overall record of 74-35-8 at UWSP and helped lead the team to the two national runner-up finishes.
 
"Again, for me, there are a ton of positives to take out of where we are right now," Brooks said. "For our seven seniors, the position of our program where it is now from when they came in is significantly different. I'm extremely proud of the role our seniors have played. That footprint they have created is only going to grow because it's become our culture and they've played a big part in creating that."
 
"It's tough to swallow but that's the nature of the game," Jaeger added. "One team has to win but it's been awesome to play in the final game of the season two years in a row. You really can't ask for much more than that. Hats off to our seven seniors, we helped change the identity of this program. Now it's the expectation that our team gets here and we'll pass the torch on and hopefully the next group can keep it going."
 
Jaeger made 19 saves in the loss, finishing with a career total of 2,037, making him UWSP's all-time leader in career saves. Nathaniel Heilbron stopped 35 shots for the Bantams and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.