The UW-Eau Claire women’s hockey team was back at home Saturday night, taking down the College of St. Scholastica 8-1. 

In a game that was dominated by the Blugolds, five different players came away with goals, including two skaters that scored multiple. 

Sophie Rausch, a fifth-year forward, started the game early, scoring the Blugolds’ first goal 11 minutes into the game. This wasn’t Raush’s only goal as she picked up two more during the second period, recording her first hat trick of the season. 

Along with her big performance Saturday night, Rausch was also able to celebrate being named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Kwik Trip Athlete of the Week. 

“It means a lot to me to have the success I have, but also having the team succeed as it does,” Rausch said. “There’s pressure there, but it motivates me more.”

Providing the assist on Rausch’s third goal of the night was third-year forward Sam Bandholz. Bandholz also recorded another assist on the seventh goal of the game shot by Ava Bullert. 

“As a player, I’m focusing on working hard,” Bandholz said. “Obviously, you can’t always be in the spot to score the goal, but as long as you keep your feet moving and try to make the next best play, that’s the best you can do as a hockey player at any given time.”

Along with Bullert and Rausch, Sydney Johnson and Mckenna Sandberg also contributed to the score, both adding goals during the second period. 

Kenzie Keller recorded the eighth and final goal for the Blugolds 13 minutes into the third period, ending the night with two goals for herself. 

Two of the Blugold goals came while they were short-handed, and another two came during a power play. Head coach Erik Strand said that the team has been working on taking advantage of those moments.

“We’re really trying to be focused on when we can safely and smartly attack,” Strand said. “When those moments present themselves, we need to have the player IQ where we can take advantage of that.”

The night before, UW-Eau Claire was handed their first loss of the season during a non-conference game at St. Mary’s University. 

The lone score for the Blugolds came towards the end of the third period as Johnson nailed the puck in. Unfortunately, the single goal wasn’t enough as the team fell 2-1. 

“We didn’t play badly, we just couldn’t finish,” Strand said. “For us, it was just a recommitment to each other, and we felt that we had more to give than what we gave.”

The team will travel to Concordia University Wisconsin on Tuesday for their next game, starting at 7:15 p.m.

After a quick road trip, the Blugolds are back at home on Friday to open conference play against Northland, beginning at 7 p.m. at Hobbs Ice Arena. 

They’ll continue conference play at home on Saturday against UW-Superior with puck drop at 2 p.m.

Heading into conference play, Bandholz said she isn’t worried about facing tough competition. 

“As long as we play our Blugold hockey, we are going to continue to be a force to be reckoned with,” she said. 

Hokanson can be reached at [email protected].