The UW-Eau Claire men’s hockey team took a tough loss against St. Norbert College on their home ice on Friday night. Although the Blugolds outshot the Green Knights 38-17, the game ended with a score of 4-3.

The first period consisted of multiple hard hits from St. Norbert, but not much action in the net, resulting in a 0-0 tie.

Camden Haugenoe, a first-year goaltender, blocked three out of five shots from the opposing team with eight minutes left in the second period.

Haugenoe said he didn’t think about St. Norbert’s ranking during the game, he just went out and played hard.

“I really didn’t think about it as playing against the number one team,” Haugenoe said. “I try to prepare for every team the same, and I wasn’t too worried about it.”

The Blugolds out-shot the Green Knights 10-5, but Luke Davison, a first-year defender, secured the lead, updating the score 3-0.

Eau Claire responded to a St. Norbert turnover with a goal and an assist from Jake Hopfner and T.J. Stuntz, both senior forwards.

Head Coach Matthew Loen said team victories come from having experienced players.

“We’ve got some young guys, but the core of our team is our senior forwards,” Loen said. “So, we have to keep growing, and hopefully we can put a string of wins together now.”

The Blugolds fought hard until the end of the third period but were unable to score any further goals.

After their loss against St. Norbert, Eau Claire rallied to defeat Lawrence University on Saturday night at Hobbs Municipal Ice Center with a score of 4-1.

With this win against the Vikings, the Blugolds’ season record upgraded to 5-3.

Mac Jansen, a senior forward, took matters into his own hands and led the team offensively with four goals.

A penalty called on the Vikings gave the Blugolds a power play opportunity. Jansen scored his first goal off of a slashing call in the first three minutes of the game. Tyler Tomberlin, a sophomore forward, and Lucas Kohls, a junior forward, teamed up for the assist on Jansen’s third goal of the season, making the score 1-0.

Jansen’s next goal was a wrist shot stemming from passes by Kyle Lee, a senior forward, and Johnny Mueller, a junior defender. The puck flew over the blocker of Evan Cline, a sophomore goaltender, to make it 2-0.

Loen said Jansen had something to prove going into this game.

“He is a very strong player who can score at this level, but he hasn’t really shown it yet this year,” Loen said. “We gave him a challenge, and he accomplished that task.”

Going into the first intermission, the Blugolds had the upper hand in puck possessions and shots in goal, 17-6.

With 14:08 left in the second period, the Vikings earned a power play off of a penalty called on Eau Claire. Lane King, a senior forward, scored the goal resulting in a score of 2-1.

Lawrence monopolized on that goal and battled until Jansen added his third goal on a breakaway chance, assisted by Kohls and Mueller.

Jansen added his final goal with the help of Kohls and Jesse Tredinnick, a senior forward, in the middle frame off of a power play making it 4-1.

Jansen said he couldn’t have accomplished any goals without the help of his teammates.

“I talked things over before the game with linemates to make sure we were on the same page to give us the best opportunity to be successful,” Jansen said.

The Blugolds held the Vikings 4-1, adding another win to their season record.

Eau Claire’s next two games against Finlandia University (Michigan) will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday at Hobbs Municipal Ice Center.