Surprisingly, it was UW-Stevens Point (10-11-0) who handed the Blugolds a demoralizing 6-1 loss. And it was no. 2 ranked St. Norbert (17-3-1) who Eau Claire battled to a 3-3 tie in overtime.
Junior Tyler Romasco thought the team just didn’t show up ready to play against the Pointers.
“I don’t think we were as prepared as we are for a lot of our games. For me, I just think things weren’t going our way (Friday) night,” Romasco said. “Just a combination of bad bounces and us not being as prepared as we should for a big game like that.”
Things started out positive for the Blugolds when they earned a power play late in the first period with the game tied at 0-0. Just when Eau Claire seemed to have the advantage, it was Stevens Point who was able to capitalize with a pair of shorthanded goals on the power play.
Senior Ross Janecyk said that it is a privilege to be out there during power plays, and he thought the team didn’t really treat it that way on Friday night.
“That was pretty demoralizing,” Janecyk said. “We kind of weren’t really ready and took the foot off the gas for a minute, and they struck for two goals.”
Eau Claire pulled within 2-1 on a goal from sophomore Jordan Singer at 9:01 in the second period. The Blugolds’ optimism was quickly halted though, when the Pointers added a pair of goals in each period, leading to their 6-1 win.
Sophomore Kurt Weston said the team made sure to address their poor performance against Stevens Point before their contest against St. Norbert.
“Going into Saturday morning we had a team meeting and said … yesterday’s game is over with, today is a new day, new team,” Weston said. “Coming back home and finally playing a home game in front of our student section — which we haven’t had in over a month — we didn’t want to get embarrassed again.”
Less than six minutes into the game an early goal from Weston got the Blugolds off to just the start they needed.
“It was huge,” Weston said. “It’s nice when the hard work pays off.”
The second ranked team in the country wasn’t going done easy, and quickly knotted the game up at 1-1 during a power play at the 8:55 mark in the first period.
In the second period Eau Claire was able to grab the lead again on a goal from Romasco. St. Norbert responded quickly again, though, this time adding a pair of un-answered goals that put their team up 3-2 going into the final period.
Eau Claire, determined to redeem themselves from the night before, kept fighting and was eventually rewarded at the 7:12 mark on a goal from freshman Jon Waggoner.
The 3-3 stalemate lingered for the remainder of the period, and eventually through overtime.
Following the tie, Eau Claire moved to a 12-8-1 record overall on the season. Having now played St. Norbert close in three games this season, the Blugolds are very optimistic going forward.
Janecyk thought the match really proved what Eau Claire could do from this point on.
“We know we can play with those guys, and I think we’re a better team,” Janecyk said. “Our record may not show it, but we need to get those bounces and they’re going to come. I know everybody is confident and will be ready to go from here on out.”
