Box Score
STEVENS POINT, Wis. – After a delay of over an hour due to a power outage in the city of Stevens Point, the 13th-ranked St. Scholastica hockey team ultimately defeated UW-Stevens Point 4-2 tonight.
Not only was tonight’s game the season opener for CSS, but it also was the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) opener for both teams. The Pointers opened their season last weekend with a victory against Northland College.
The Saints came into tonight’s contest with a lot of new faces, compared to last year’s NCAA Tournament team. However, CSS came out and controlled the action from the start. The Saints out-shot the Pointers 15-9 in the first period, but it was scoreless after the first 20 minutes.
It didn’t take long for CSS to get on the board in the second period as newcomer
Brett Corcoran (
Fr.-Parksville, B.C.) scored an unassisted goal 1:40 seconds into the period. Four minutes later,
Aaron Spotts (
Sr.-Spokane, Wash.) scored an unassisted goal to make it 2-0 CSS.
Halfway through the second period, the Pointers cut the Saints’ lead in half with a power-play goal from Travis Erstad. The Saints got that goal back at the end of period when
Jeremy Dawes (
So.-Winnipeg, Man.) scored with 1:54 seconds left in the period to make it 3-1.
Tyler Miller (
Fr.-Fort Frances, Ont.) and Spotts had the assists. The Pointers had a 12-10 shot advantage in the second period.
Stevens Point made things interesting in the third period as Harrison Niemann scored with eight minutes left to make it 3-2. The Saints though hung tough and
Riley Riddell (
Jr.-Wawota, Sask.) scored an empty net goal with 33 seconds left to give CSS a 4-2 victory.
The Saints snap a two-game losing streak in season openers. CSS has won three straight in Stevens Point. Prior to that, the Saints hadn’t won at Willett Arena since the 1986-87 season.
Brennan Poderzay (
So.-Tower, Minn.) got the start in between the pipes for the Saints and made 33 saves to earn the victory. Thomas Speer had 30 saves in the loss for the Pointers. There were a total of 13 penalties in the contest.
The Saints and Pointers will go at it again tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard live on ESPN Radio 560-WEBC with Steve Jezierski delivering all of the action.