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Pointers Suffer
Season's First Loss to Hamline
Box Score
UW-Stevens Point peppered Hamline with 57 shots on
goal, but had a late rally come up short in a 7-5 loss on Friday at Willett
Arena.
The Pointers trailed 6-3 in the third period and put
22 shots on net in the period. UW-Stevens Point got goals from Russel Law and
Dan Francis in the final 4:06 of the game and had chances with an extra
attacker, however, the Pipers� Jim Erickson put in an empty net goal with 22
seconds left to end the comeback.
Hamline goaltender Matt Wanvig stopped 52 shots in the
victory and the Pipers were three-for-five on the power play in posting their
first win over the Pointers in nine all-time meetings. UW-Stevens Point, ranked
ninth in the NCAA Division III, fell to 2-1 overall, while Hamline is 1-2.
The Pipers also got a shorthanded goal just 57 seconds
into the game as Dustin Fulton picked off a pass at the point and raced
uncontested to a breakaway goal. Hamline went ahead 2-0 when Joe Long scored the
first goal of his hat trick at the 7:09 mark. It took the Pointers just 15
seconds to counter as Law scored the first of his two goals, but a power play
goal by Long put Hamline up 3-1 after one period.
UW-Stevens Point tied the game with two goals in the
first seven minutes of the second period with Ross Johnson and Sean Fish each
netting goals. The game stayed 3-3 until the Pipers got a five-on-three power
play late in the period and cashed in with a goal from Matt Buckley with 1:26
left in the second period.
Hamline got a rebound goal from Long and then a power
play score from Lee Joos to seemingly put the game away with seven minutes
remaining. However, the Pointers tightened the game with the two late goals.
Francis� goal came on the power play as the Pointers finished two-for-10 with
the man advantage.
UW-Stevens Point sophomore Ryan Miech made his first
career start in goal and finished with 18 saves. The Pointers host 15th-ranked
Bethel on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. |
