Aaron Vehling

Though the wins haven’t been pouring in this season for the UW-Eau Claire men’s hockey team, coach Jean Laforest and his troops are still holding their heads high.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Laforest said. “They have worked hard every night and competed hard. We just haven’t been rewarded with a lot of wins.”

Saturday against the UW-Stevens Point Pointers, this scenario seemed to be prevalent.

Heading into the second period at Hobbs tied 2-2, the game was for the taking.

After that however, the wheels seemed to fall off the Eau Claire wagon as Point went on a 5-goal scoring spree.

Laforest sees losses like this as evidence that the ‘Golds lack depth, not heart.

Due to this, Kaufenberg said that the team is preparing heavily for the remaining six games.

“We are treating every game now like a playoff game,” he said. “In a sense, we are playing with reckless abandon.”

Laforest has remained positive throughout the season, though he admits there are situations when he has been frustrated.

“When coaching,” he said, “at times it is better to be an optimist more so than a realist.”

Kaufenberg said that though there have been some rough spots over the course of the season, he has loved playing for Laforest.

“He (Laforest) has been phenomenal,” Kaufenberg said. “I’m glad to see him behind the bench. Guys are still excited to play.”

Laforest said he knew coming into his first season at the helm of the Blugold program that there would be some growing pains.

Through all the losses however, he has always stressed improvement.

“Have we progressed?” Laforest asked. “I think that we really have.”

The Blugolds head up I-94 on Thursday to do battle with UW-Stout.

The ‘Golds only conference win came against the Blue Devils earlier in the season.

Eau Claire is now 1-14-2 overall and 1-6-1 in NCHA play.

“It’s not a matter of systems, or desire,” Laforest said. “It’s a matter of depth.”

The Pointers scored the first goal of the game, though Eau Claire quickly countered with a power play goal from sophomore Phil Cherneski with 4:19 left in the first period. Only 27 seconds later, the Blugolds added another goal as sophomore Matt Tiesling scored on a Point giveaway in their own zone.

From there, the Pointers added another first period goal, two second period scores and three goals in the third to go on to the 7-2 win.

“It wasn’t for a lack of effort,” senior defenseman Justin Kaufenberg said. “A tight game can light a fuse for either team.”

The tightly-checked, physical game saw both teams spend plenty of time in the penalty box. Eau Claire spent 34 total minutes in the box compared to Point’s 30 minutes.

Along with the rough play the game entailed, both goalies faced a barrage of shots. Sophomore Chris Nelson stopped 30 of the 37 Pointer shots he faced. The Blugolds managed 35 shots on Point’s goalie, freshman Ryan Scott.

Nelson was filling in for the Blugolds’ starting goalie, senior Scott Sutton, who was serving a single game suspension for an altercation during Friday night’s game in Point. The Blugolds lost that game 5-1.

Kaufenberg felt that Saturday’s score was not indicative of how the game actually went. He said that though the team is taking something away from each loss, he is “sick of taking moral victories.”