STEVENS POINT, Wis. - Lawrence Cornellier (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) recorded his second hat trick of the season, scoring the first three goals of the game to give the No. 3/4 UW-Stevens Point mens hockey team a 5-2 victory over UW-Stout Friday night at K.B. Willett Arena.

Box Score

Cornellier got UW-Stevens Point (19-4-1, 5-2 WIAC) on the scoreboard 11:58 into the first period off assists from Jacob Barber (Dardenne Prairie, MO) and Alex Brooks (Grand Rapids, MI) to give the Pointers a 1-0 lead on UW-Stout (9-10-5, 1-5-1 WIAC).

Just 39 seconds later, Riley Collard evened the score for the Blue Devils, putting in a loose puck in front of the net. With under six minutes remaining in the first period, Cornellier knocked down a deflected puck out of the air for his second goal of the evening to give UW-Stevens Point a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.

Just 4:21 into the second period, Cornellier put home a rebound after two shots from Eliot Grauer (Mukilteo, WA/Kamiak) on the power play to complete the natural hat trick. Cornellier's third goal of the night gives him eight goals in his last six games and he has scored in all six.

At the 5:45 mark of the second period, Brooks maneuvered his way through the UW-Stout back end to find an open Barber on the back door to extend the Pointers' lead to 4-1.

Midway through the second frame, UW-Stout's Craig Lindegard scored on the power play to cut the UWSP lead to 4-2 entering the final period of play.

Grauer sealed the UWSP victory with a power-play goal 5:44 into the third period off another assist by Brooks.

UW-Stevens Point outshot UW-Stout 35-25. Sophomore goaltender Max Milosek (Lapeer, MI) made 23 saves for UWSP, while his counterpart Nick Schmit made 30 for UW-Stout.

UW-Stevens Point was 2-for-6 on the power-play, while UW-Stout went 1-for-3.

The Pointers will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 13 facing off against No. 8/10 UW-Eau Claire with a chance at securing the number one seed entering the WIAC Championship on the line. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.