The UW-Eau Claire men’s hockey took on Finlandia University this weekend, playing two games on Finlandia’s ice in Hancock, Mich. Both teams came out of the weekend with a win and a loss. The Blugolds have a 9-2 record so far this season.

UW-Eau Claire took the first game of the weekend Friday night. The team started out strong, scoring two goals in the first period. Connor Koviak, a first-year forward, scored his first goal of the season at the 07:03 mark and Nathan Dingmann, a second-year forward, tallied his second at the 15:02 mark.

The Lions scored at the beginning of the second period, but the goal didn’t phase the Blugolds. The team carried their momentum from the first period, recording two more goals. The first was by Austin Redders, a second-year defender. He scored his first of the season at the 12:59 mark. Jon Richards, a second-year forward, scored his second goal of the season at the 15:52 mark.

Finlandia scored two goals in the third period, one of which was on a power play, but were unable to close the gap. In an effort to do so, the Lions took on the Blugolds 6-5, playing the last 58 seconds with an empty net.

The Blugolds came out of the match with a 4-3 win. Zach Dyment, a second-year goalie, finished the game with six saves, totaling 155 saves so far this season and bringing his save percentage to .923.

Comparatively, the game Saturday was not as fruitful for the Blugolds. Despite recording 24 saves in the game, David Johnson, a third-year goalie, allowed a Finlandia goal only seconds into the second period. This would be the only goal scored by either team for the rest of the match, despite the Blugolds taking 40 shots on the Lions’ goal.

Logan Von Ruden, a third-year defender, said last weekend was an eye-opener for the Blugolds.

“Our goal is to look at every game as it comes — you can’t look past any team,” Von Ruden said.  “We have to beat the good teams and we have to beat the teams that don’t have as great of a record. We have to beat both.”

The Blugolds will take on UW-Stout at home Wednesday for their first WIAC matchup of the season.

Lucas Kohls, a fifth-year forward, said the second game this past weekend was a wake-up call for the entire team — but the team is using their loss as motivation.

“We feel good going into Wednesday. We all need to do our jobs and play as a five-man unit,” Kohls said.

The Blugolds will host UW-Stout at Hobbs Ice Arena Wednesday night. The team will also be celebrating military appreciation night on Wednesday.

Kelley can be reached at [email protected].