Last weekend the women’s hockey team narrowly earned the right to host a series in the opening round of the NCHA (Northern Collegiate Hockey Association) tournament.

The team entered the weekend knowing a pair of victories in their games against St. Scholastica (Minn.) would clinch the opportunity to host their opening round matchup.

Senior captain Kristin Faber said it was really important to the team that they earn the home playoff games next weekend.

“It’s never happened (at Eau Claire) before,” she said. “It feels great for the program to earn it.”

Following the 1-1 overtime tie in the first game, chances of that accomplishment seemed much closer to a dream than a reality. The Blugolds not only needed to win Saturday, but also depended on UW-Stevens Point to hold Concordia to a loss or a tie.  Since Concordia dismantled Stevens Point 6-1 the night before, it seemed like chances were pretty slim.

Eau Claire jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead less than six minutes into the game, but coach Mike Collins thought a depleted roster due to injuries kept the team from being able to hold on.

“I don’t think that we had a great game on Friday and part of it is due to the fact that our lineup is pretty beat up ­– we’ve got a lot of injuries,” Collins said. “Whether we were a little tired, things just didn’t work in our favor.”

The fatigue in Collins’ squad was evident as they tallied just six shots in the third period and overtime combined after attempting 24 shots in the first two periods.

St. Scholastica was able to knot things up late in the second period at one, and the score didn’t change for the rest of the game.

Even though the Blugolds went into the game on Saturday knowing they needed help from Stevens Point to keep Concordia from earning a win, Collins said he made sure his team was focused on the game in front of them because they “lost control of that by tying on Friday.”

It was clear Eau Claire came into the game determined as they promptly scored two goals less than five minutes into the game. Sophomore Casey McMullen netted the first one just under two minutes in, and Faber added the second at the 4:13 mark.

“I think Toni (Simones) got a shot off and I came around the net and luckily – I guess I was in the right spot — the goalie was stuck on the other side of the net and I shot it past her,” Faber said.

St. Scholastica pulled within 2-1 only a few minutes later, but the Blugolds were able to answer again and ended the first period with a 3-1 advantage. After a scoreless second period, St. Scholastica pulled the game within a score again after netting a goal midway through the third period.

With just minutes remaining in the game the Blugolds were called for a penalty and St. Scholastica elected to pull their goalie, forcing Eau Claire to defend their lead facing a 6-on-4 attack. Collins thought it was a tough call for the referees to make at such a crucial point in the game, and that he didn’t necessarily think it was the right decision. However, he was very pleased with the way his team responded with the game — and a home-ice advantage the following weekend — on the line.

“I don’t know if they got a shot on net, I don’t even know if they got on our end,” Collins said. “We did a great job of defending, keeping the puck out of our end, and they never really got a good sniff in that one minute and ten second segment.”

With the victory, and a tie in the Concordia-Stevens Point game, the Blugolds earned a fourth-place tie with Concordia in the final NCHA standings. Since Eau Claire holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against Concordia from tying and beating them earlier this season, they get to host the playoff matchup between the two teams.

The pair of matches will be at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday night at Hobbs Arena. The easiest way for the team to advance would be a victory in both contests. If the teams split the two matches, they will immediately follow the second game with a 20-minute ‘final game’ to decide the winner.

After already defeating Concordia earlier this year, Collins said there are some expectations he has for his team.

“I would be disappointed if we didn’t win obviously. We’re at home, we get to host, we’re the higher seed,” Collins said. “Definitely it’ll take our best effort, and I hope we continue to get healthy and take advantage of the fact that we are at home, and play well for another week.”