At 7 p.m. on Dec. 1 the UW-Eau Claire men’s hockey team took on UW-Superior for their first game of the weekend.
They started the weekend with a shutout with a score of 4-0 with one goal in each period and two goals in the final period.
Prior to this weekend, the team had only played three games at home while having played six games away, according to Blugold Athletics.
Matt Loen is in his 17th year coaching the Blugolds men’s hockey team. Along with that Loen is also a UW-Eau Claire hockey alum.
“Obviously we haven’t had too many home games yet this year, so we just wanted to establish our home presence and hopefully get some solid WIAC points at home,” Loen said.
Kyle Oleksiuk is a third-year marketing student who is a forward on the team.
“It was a good team win, the boys worked hard tonight, and we got it done,” Oleksiuk said. “Time for a good test tomorrow against Stout.”
At 7 p.m. on Dec. 2 UW-Eau Claire took on the UW-Stout Blue Devils.
This game was closer with a score of 4-3.
The Blugolds started out quick in the game with a goal at 1:32 in the first period by fourth-year business student Connor Szmul with an assist by fourth-year management student Sammy Martel.
In the second period, the Blugolds pulled ahead more, putting them up two points until the Blue Devils scored their first goal of the game.
In the third period, the Blugolds came out fast again with a goal at 1:08 by first-year forward Tyler Herzberg with assists from second-year forward Leo Bacallao and graduate student Tyler Love.
The Blue Devils worked to get two more goals tying up the game in the third period bringing the score to 3-3.
After a two-minute break, the teams faced off in a five-minute three versus three overtime sudden death style.
The Blugolds got the win when third-year Kyler Grundy scored the overtime goal 1:18 in with assists from Bacallao and third-year business student Colin Stein.
Olesiuk said that UW-Stout is always a big rival and a big test for the team, but they were confident going in.
Seeing as the teams are in such close proximity to each other, they drew a crowd of 836 people to Hobbs Ice Arena, according to Blugold Athletics.
The Blugolds will take on both teams again two more times throughout the season.
Loen said he hopes to grow as a team and build upon their confidence to believe in themselves. They talk about things that can be developed more in hopes of having a strong second half to their season.
Having played 11 games so far this season, the Blugolds have a record of eight wins, two losses and one tie.
The Blugold’s next home game is coming up at 7 p.m. on Dec. 8 at Hobbs Ice Arena for their second game of the season against UW-Stevens Point.
For more information check out their page on Blugold Athletics.
Geske can be reached at [email protected].
