Kathlyn Hotynski

Going into the weekend, the women’s hockey team could have solidified a playoff berth with back-to-back games against divisional opponent UW-Stevens Point. The Blugolds, however, were stung with two losses and now have to win the rest of their games this season to hope for a playoff spot.

After a three-game road trip, UW-Eau Claire returned to Hobbs Ice Center for one game on Friday night hoping that home ice would help against the ninth-ranked Pointers, but Stevens Point came away with two crucial points and a 5-2 victory.

The first period saw one Pointer goal at even strength and only two shots on goal for Eau Claire. Stevens Point would push their lead to 2-0 in the second period, but the Blugolds started putting the puck on goal and were rewarded as seniors Tara Hayner and Laura Suppes scored within two minutes of each other – Hayner at 18:17 in the second on a power play and Suppes at 0:18 in the third at even strength.

But the Blugolds only mustered one shot on goal for the last 19:42 while Point put 14 shots on goal in that same time. As a result, the Pointers put three more pucks in the net. Freshmen Mikaela Jobman and Bri Lutz combined for 23 saves.

Saturday’s rematch didn’t turn out any better as Stevens Point again put a five-spot on Eau Claire. The only saving grace was sophomore Margaret Campbell breaking up the shutout with only 3:07 left to play in the game. Her third-period goal was assisted by her older sister, senior Allie Campbell. Jobman came up with 22 saves in the loss.

For the weekend, the Blugolds were out-shot by Stevens Point 55-32.

“We weren’t creating enough opportunities,” coach Mike Collins said. “We can’t take scoring droughts like that and expect to win against a team (like Stevens Point).”

Junior Theresa Guindon said the team did take a lot of shots, but that most of them ended up being blocked before they reached the net. “We just need to start getting closer to the net and letting it rip,” she said. “But we’re not a team that will get down on ourselves.”

Currently, the Blugolds are fifth in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association standings with a 4-7-2 conference record (10-10-2 overall) and are two points out of the fourth and final playoff spot. Lake Forest (Ill.) currently occupies that spot and has two more conference games remaining than Eau Claire.

In order to get into the playoffs, the Blugolds will need to win their two remaining conference games against Finlandia (Mich.) and hope Lake Forest earns two points or less in their final four.

“We just need to win the next two and hope that Lake Forest loses,” said Guindon. “We will have to out-work them (Finlandia), make them take penalties, and use our speed to score some goals.”

Collins stressed the importance of not overlooking Finlandia, a struggling team that Eau Claire has had success against. “The teams that can be spoilers play the hardest,” he said. “We need to regain some tenacity and play harder than our opposition.”