Men’s Hockey
The UW-Eau Claire men’s hockey team fell Saturday night 5-4 against UW-Stevens Point in their final regular-season game.

The Blugolds got on the board first with a goal less than a minute into the game. Senior Jesse Vesel scored 43 seconds into the game, with the goal assisted by senior Sean Garrity and freshman Tyler Romasco.

The Pointers responded strongly with three unanswered goals of their own to take a 3-1 lead in the first period.

With less than four minutes remaining before the break, junior Tyler Trudell found the net to bring Eau Claire within one.

The Blugolds then scored in the first minute of the second period to even the score. The goal came from senior Greg Petersen 41 seconds into the period and was assisted by Garrity and Vesel.

Romasco scored just eight minutes later – for the first time this season – to grab a 4-3 lead for the Blugolds.

Stevens Point continued the back-and-forth style of the game as they added two goals in the final 10 minutes of the period to bring it to 5-4.

Eau Claire had seven shots in the third period while the Pointers had eight, and neither team was able to add to their goal totals.

Next up for the Blugolds is their first NCHA conference tournament game 7:30 p.m. Friday at UW-Stout. The two teams have already faced each other twice this year, and Stout came away with 2-0 and 3-1 victories.

Wrestling
Winning four matches against the UW-Stevens Point team wasn’t enough against the 10th-ranked Pointers on Saturday.

The Blugolds are now 6-12 overall in dual meets, and the team wrapped up the regular season with a 1-5 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record. Stevens Point improves to 16-3-1 on the season and 4-1-1 in the conference, finishing in third place.

The Blugolds will now head to the WIAC Championship next Sunday in Oshkosh. The meet is set to begin at 10 a.m.

Women’s Track and Field
The No. 15 UW-Eau Claire women’s track and field team had eight first-place finishes Saturday as it competed at UW-Platteville’s Nike Impact Sports Track and Field Meet.

Of the 17 events held during the day, the Blugolds had 10 finishers in the top three, with eight athletes finishing in first place.

First-place events included: 200-meter dash, 3000-meter run, 5000-meter run, high jump, triple jump and shotput.

Men’s Track and Field
The No. 20 UW-Eau Claire men’s track and field team competed Saturday in 17 events at UW-Platteville’s Nike Impact Sports Track and Field Meet.

The men had five teammates finish in fourth place or above; senior Sam Johnson finished first in the weight throw; Junior Justin White placed second in the 400-meter dash.

Men’s and women’s track and field will be competing again next week at UW-Stevens Point. Events are set to start at 10:30 a.m.

– Spectator Staff