STEVENS POINT, Wis. - The No. 1 UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team (25-0-2) hosts No. 9 UW-Eau Claire (19-6-2) in the WIAC Championship (presented by Culver's) on Saturday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m. at K.B. Willett Arena.

THE BASICS
Who: No. 1 UW-Stevens Point (25-0-2) vs. No. 9 UW-Eau Claire (19-6-2)
When: Saturday, March 2 | 7:00 p.m.
Where: K.B. Willett Arena | Stevens Point, Wis.

Tickets
$10 for Reserved Seating
$3 UWSP or WIAC students

Advance tickets can be purchased at the University Information and Tickets Office in the Dreyfus University Center, online at tickets.uwsp.edu, or by calling 715-346-4100. With the recent trend of sell-outs at Willett Arena, fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance.

GAME COVERAGE
Live stats and live video will be available for the championship game on Saturday. Tom Weaver and Shaun McMahon will provide coverage of Pointers' men's hockey all season long on SportsFan100.5 on sportsfan1005.com and on Tune-in by searching "WDTX."
 
Saturday: Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio

LAST TIME OUT
The Pointers dominated against the Falcons, sweeping the two-game WIAC Semifinals series, 6-0 and 6-2. On Friday night, the Pointers got goals from five different skaters and scored in each period, including two power-play goals for their second shutout of the season.
 
The following evening, UWSP jumped out to a 5-0 lead before closing out the game, 6-2, getting goals from Jordan Fader (Rice Lake, Wis.), Tanner Karty (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Zach Zech (South Lyon, Mich.), Chris Allemon (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) and Kelly O'Brien (Detroit, Mich.).
 
ABOUT UW-STEVENS POINT | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
 
OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION
In the past four games, the Pointers' offense has scored at least six goals, with 12 players putting the puck in the back of the net. O'Brien leads with four goals while Zech, Steven Quagliata (Bartlett, Ill.), Colin Raver (Bartlett, Ill.) and Fader each having three goals in the four-game span. UWSP's offense ranks fifth in the nation, averaging 4.30 goals per game.

WE WANT THE CUP!
The Pointers have advanced the Commissioner's Cup Championship game for the fifth-consecutive season. UWSP is looking for revenge against UWEC after losing last year's championship game to the Blugolds, 3-2. UWSP is 2-2 in WIAC Championship games and 11-3-2 overall in the WIAC Tournament.

BETWEEN THE PIPES 
Sophomore Connor Ryckman (Minesing, Ont.) picked up two wins over the weekend, improving to 22-0-1 on the season. Ryckman made 20 saves in the 6-0 win over UW-River Falls on Friday and another 20 saves in Saturday's 6-2 victory. Ryckman ranks second in the nation for goals-against average (1.40), and 12th for save percentage (.934). Ryckman sits one win behind Brandon Jaeger's record of most wins in a season (23), set in the 2014-15 season.

IN THE RANKINGS | D3HOCKEY.COM POLL | USCHO.COM POLL
UW-Stevens Point comes in at No. 1 in both the D3Hockey and USCHO polls for the 14th week in a row. UW-Stevens Point has been ranked by USCHO.com for 109 consecutive weeks and D3hockey.com for 105 straight weeks.

ABOUT NO. 9 UW-EAU CLAIRE | HOME | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
No. 9-ranked UW-Eau Claire enters the weekend with a 19-6-2 record. The Blugolds were on a three-game skid, losing their final two regular season conference games against UW-Superior, 2-1, and UW-Stevens Point, 7-1, and game one of the WIAC Semifinals, 2-0, to the Yellowjackets. The Blugolds won 3-2 in overtime against UW-Superior in game two to force a mini-game. UW-Eau Claire went on to take the mini-game, 2-0, to advance to their second-consecutive WIAC Championship game.
 
In net for the Blugolds is sophomore Zach Dyment. He has started 26 games and ranks 12th in the nation for goals against average (1.82) and 49th for save percentage (.911). The Blugolds have 12 players in double figures for points and are led offensively by Lucas Kohls (9-14-23), Jake Bresser (4-16-20) and Steen Cooper (4-15-19).

ALL-TIME SERIES 
UWSP holds an 80-36-8 record against UW-Eau Claire. Earlier this season, the Pointers defeated UWEC, 3-1 and 7-1. Danny Kiraly (Glendale, Ariz.), TJ Roo (Champlin, Minn.) and Austin Kelly (Toledo, Ohio) all had goals for the Pointers in the 3-1 victory over the Blugolds. In the 7-1 win, O'Brien recorded his second career hat trick and Wilson Northey (North Vancouver, B.C.) scored his first collegiate goal. Raver, Zech and Quagliata also had goals in the game.

TEAM LEADERS 

	UW-Stevens Point	UW-Eau Claire
Goals	Raver (12)	Kohls; Richards (9)
Assists	Karty (23)	Bresser (16)
Points	Karty (33)	Kohls (23)
Power-Play Goals	C. Roo; Quagliata (5)	Kohls; Parsells (4)
PIM	Kanter (54)	Murphy (50)
Goals Against Average	Ryckman (1.40)	Dyment (1.82)
Save Percentage	Ryckman (.934)	Dyment (.911)
Home Record	14-0-1	11-2-1
Away Record	11-0-1	8-4-1
Neutral Record	0-0-0	0-0-0
Record Scoring First	23-0-1	11-0-1
Opponent Scores First	2-0-1	8-6-1
Overtime Games	0-0-2	1-0-2

THE COACHES
Head coach Tyler Krueger is in his second season as the head coach of the Pointers. Under his leadership, the Pointers finished the 2017-18 season with a 21-6-3 record and returned to the Frozen Four after missing out the year before. He was also a pivotal part of the Pointers' three-year run to the National Championship game in 2014, 2015 and 2016.  From behind the bench, Krueger helped UWSP win its first WIAC Tournament title and fifth National Championship in 2016. Prior to joining the coaching staff, Krueger was a four-year member of the Pointers hockey team.  He skated in 79 games as a Pointer with two goals, 15 assists and a plus/minus of +34 for his career.  He captained the 2014 team that reached the NCAA title game.

Matt Loen is in his 12th season at UW-Eau Claire in 2018-19. Last season, Loen led the Blugolds to the WIAC tournament championship and was named WIAC Co-Coach of the Year. He has earned this award six times in the last nine years. He's received the honor in 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15 and 2016-17. In 2012-2013, Loen and the Blugolds captured the NCAA Division III National Championship in Lake Placid, New York. That year, Loen was named the USCHO and D3Hockey.com National Coach of the Year. The Blugolds also won the NCHA and WIAC Conference Championships. Loen ranks 12th on the all-time WIAC Coaches Wins List. He has also been named NCHA Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2013. Loen is the school's all-time leader in wins with a .600 win percentage. He has an overall record of 171-110-25.

UP NEXT
The Pointers will learn their fate on Monday, March 4 at the NCAA DIII Men's Hockey selection show, which airs at ncaa.com at 9:30 a.m. CT.