UW-Eau Claire women’s hockey team played two home games at Hobbs ice arena over the weekend to start Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play. Friday night’s game against UW-Superior resulted in a loss for the Blugolds with a score of 3-1. However, in Saturday night’s game, Blugolds defeated UW-River Falls with a score of 4-2.

Friday

The first period of the game between the Blugolds and the UW-Superior Yellowjackets started off slow with no goals from either team.

It wasn’t until 3:32 into the second period that a goal was made. Superior took a shot on the net that hit the stick of Blugold freshman goalkeeper Erin Connolly, which bounced up and over her into the goal, resulting in a score of 1-0 for the Yellowjackets in the second period.

Blugolds were rewarded with two power play opportunities from Superior’s penalty of hooking, but were unable to take advantage with a goal in the second period.

At 4:15 into the third period, Superior scored yet again on the Blugolds resulting in a score of 2-0.

At 5:40, a penalty was given to Blugold freshman defense Reilly Albert for hooking, allowing the Yellowjackets an opportunity for a power play which they took to their advantage. Superior slid the puck past Connolly and scored at 7:30 making the score 3-0.

The Blugolds looked beat and exhausted at this point and even received a penalty for having too many players on the ice.

“We got away from our systems and we were not playing Blugold hockey,” sophomore defense/forward Erin Goodell said.  “Our intensity wasn’t there and we weren’t making the easy, simple plays that win us games.”

It wasn’t until 10:55 of the third period that Eau Claire scored their only goal of the game. Assisted by sophomore forward Kelly Knetter and junior forward Jaedyn Walz and junior defensive player, Lauren Norgren contributed the goal to the Blugolds.

Eau Claire was unable to push back before the time ran out and finished the game with a loss of 3-1 to the Superior Yellowjackets.

“Overall I believe it was not our best game but we learned from it and moved on to a new day and kept looking forward,” sophomore forward Courtney Wittig said.  

Saturday

The Blugolds learned from their mistakes on Friday night and brought an entirely new attitude into the game Saturday against No. 2 UW-River Falls.

Eau Claire jumped into an early lead when senior forward, Mariah Czech, found the back of the net off an assist from senior forward Claudia Gagnon at 2:49 into the game, resulting in a score of 1-0.

Assisted by freshman forward Elizabeth Bauer, Witting was able to add to the Blugold scoreboard giving them a 2-0 lead at 17:06 of the first period off a power play.

The Bauer/Witting tandem struck again at 6:40 in the second period when Witting helped Eau Claire take a 3-0 lead over the River Falls Falcons.

Blugolds were looking good by the end of the second period, as the Falcons were still unable to score on goalkeeper Conolly.

It was at 2:52 of the third period when River Falls managed a goal of their own resulting in a score of 3-1, Blugolds still taking the lead.  

However, the Falcons sudden goal didn’t stop the Blugolds and as a result, Walz took advantage of the empty net in the third period, scoring an unassisted goal at 19:23, making the score 4-1.

The Falcons ended up scoring another goal at 19:48, but it was not enough to pass the Blugolds on the scoreboard resulting an end game of 4-2 with a win for Eau Claire.

“I think the season is going pretty well, we made program history tonight with our win over River Falls,” Bauer said.

Blugolds recorded their first win over the Falcons since a 3-2 win in 2008.

“Our best games this season have been when we play our systems and play together as a team,” Goodell said. “Every team in our conference is a team that is willing to work hard and give it their all every night, so every conference game is a huge battle no matter the opponent.”

Blugold women’s hockey will play their third WAIC game on Nov. 26 at Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota.