STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The No. 1-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team (22-0-2, 7-0-0) won their third-straight regular season title with a 6-3 victory over UW-Stout (13-10-1, 0-6-1) on Friday at K.B. Willett Arena.
With one second remaining in the Pointers' power-play, junior
Luke McElhenie (Sauk City, Wis.) intercepted a pass from a UW-Stout defender to get UWSP on the board first at 18:09 of the first period.
The Blue Devils tied the game, 1-1, at the 5:27 mark of the second period with an Alex Toscano score.
The Pointers broke the tie less than two minutes later at 7:20 on a goal from
Zach Zech (South Lyon, Mich.). He was assisted by
Kelly O'Brien (Detroit, Mich.).
UW-Stout evened things up again, 2-2, 10:28 into the second. Arturas Laukaitis recorded the score.
Luke McElhenie (Sauk City, Wis.) tallied his second of the night, finding the back of the net at 16:24 of the second to make it 3-2.
Kelly O'Brien (Detroit, Mich.) picked up his second assist of the night.
With 27 seconds left to go in the second period,
Tanner Karty (Oklahoma City, Okla.) tipped in a shot by
Carter Roo (Champlin, Minn.) to increase the lead to 4-2 heading into the final period.
Two minutes into the third,
TJ Roo (Champlin, Minn.) put home the puck with
Chris Allemon (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) picking up the assist to extend the lead to 5-2.
UWSP added another power-play goal at 5:47 of the third period from
Steven Quagliata (Bartlett, Ill.) to make it 6-2.
Kelly O'Brien (Detroit, Mich.) completed the playmaker with his third assist of the night.
UW-Stout recorded a power-play goal late in the third, but it was too late for a comeback.
Freshman goaltender,
Eli Billing (Windsor, Ont.), earned the win, improving to 3-0-1, playing the final 29:32 minutes of the game. He made 12 saves and gave up just one goal to earn the victory. Sophomore
Connor Ryckman (Minesing, Ont.) played the first 30:28 minutes, making 13 saves with two goals against.
The Pointers wrap up the regular season at UW-Eau Claire on Saturday (Feb. 9). Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
