The UW-Eau Claire Blugolds defeated UW-Superior 3-0 at Hobbs Ice Center on Friday night.

The game was a defensive battle. Both teams struggled to score until 14:50 of the first period when Blugold senior forward Jon Waggoner found the back of the net for the 10th time this season. Senior forwards Brian Nehring and Jared Williams had assists.

Waggoner said the offense was able to put enough pressure on the Yellowjackets defense to force junior goalie Dayn Belfour to move slightly out of position.

“We were making them run and scramble, and we knew that their goalie was a very lively goalie,” Waggoner said. “He plays out. We were crashing and with all the pressure coming, I was able to find a way to get it past the goalie.”

In the second  half, 10 minutes passed without either team scoring. However, at 10:10, junior defenseman Jack Callahan scored off his own rebound for his fourth goal of the year. Freshman forwards David Henry and Adam Knochenmus got the assists.

Shortly after, Eau Claire scored again, this time off junior forward Ross Andersen’s rebounded shot. Freshman forward Patrick Moore was able to put away the rebound to put the Blugolds up 3-0. Andersen and senior forward Niko Kapetanovic picked up assists on the play.

Despite Waggoner’s five-minute penalty for cross checking, the Yellowjackets couldn’t score and Eau Claire finished the night at 15-4-1.

The next night, the Eau Claire team again took on Superior at home, prevailing 6-2 to improve to 5-2-1 in conference play.

The first period began similarly, as both teams were physical. At 7:29 of the first period, the Yellowjackets were able to score and found their only lead of the two game series. The rest of the period included no scoring and one penalty.

The Blugolds scored three times in the second period. At 1:21, Andersen took a shot that passed by the Superior goalie and sat on the goal line. Senior forward Niko Kapetanovic quickly came in and knocked the puck over the line tying the game at 1-1.

Eau Claire then took the lead as junior defenseman Chris Heineman found the back of the net at 10:45 with senior forward Brian Nehring for the assist.

“Everybody did their job which led to opportunities,” Heineman said. “Everything was going our way.”

Andersen got another chance to shoot in the second period and he scored again for a 3-1 lead.

Into the third, the Yellowjackets (7-13-3, 2-6-2) found a way to score, cutting the deficit to 3-2. However, it wasn’t enough as the Blugolds came back and scored three times courtesy of junior forward Joe Krause (8:21), Nehring (9:14) and Knochenmus (13:38).

With the Saturday night win, head coach Matt Loen had his 100th career victory. He now holds a 100-76-13 record in his 7th season.

“As to the 100 wins, that’s why I’m here. I want to win games,” Loen said. “The wins are great but it’s not all me, it’s everyone involved.”

Loen also said he’s here to put together competitive teams with a good group of guys. He said he wants the total package: the academics, the athletics and the student life.

This weekend, the Blugolds go to UW-Stevens Point to try to continue their four-game win streak. Game time is set for 7 p.m on Friday.