STEVENS POINT, Wis. — UW-Eau Claire broke 40:57 scoreless stretch to defeat the UW-Stevens Point women's hockey team, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon at Ice Hawks Arena.

With both teams locked at 1-1 in the closing minutes of the third period, Mariah Czech scored a power-play goal to give UW-Eau Claire (14-6-3, 3-3-1) a one-goal advantage over UW-Stevens Point (11-9-2, 1-5-1). The Pointers were unable to find the equalizer with junior goaltender Sydney Conley (South St. Paul, MN/South St. Paul) pulled for final 44 seconds of regulation.

In the first period, Czech gave the Blugolds an early 1-0 lead, tallying an unassisted goal 1:26 into the contest.

Senior captain Ellie Punnett (Hailey, ID/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) leveled the game at 15:44 of the opening stanza. Lauren Smith (Antigo, WI/Antigo) and Cassie Newcomer (McFarland, WI/Madison Capitols) picked up assists on the play.

Despite outshooting the Blugolds 11-6 in the middle period, the Pointers unable to capture the lead, before Czech's goal late in the third period.

Conley made 28 saves in goal for UWSP.

UW-Stevens Point closes out WIAC play with a two-game set at UW-Superior on Feb. 9 and 10. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Friday and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday at Wessman Arena.