St. Scholastica (0-1-0) spotted visiting UW-Eau Claire (1-0-0) a 4-0 lead into the middle of the third period before three St. Scholastica goals closed the gap to one, but a Blugolds breakaway goal with just over three minutes remaining iced the game in their 5-3 defeat of the Saints at Mars Lakeview Arena on Saturday evening.

 

Eau Claire scored one in the first then raced to a 3-0 lead with a pair of goals in the opening 3:09 of the second period.

 

As the clock ticked toward the 14 minute mark of the final period the Blugolds thought they'd locked in a win with their fourth goal of the night with just under 13 minutes to play.

 

Whatever had been holding the Saints back through the first 47 minutes suddenly let go as sophomore forward Aaron Spotts (Spokane, Wash./Cowichan Valley (BCHL)) scored two short-handed goals and then sophomore defenseman Jordan Baird (Port McNeill, British Columbia/Victoria (BCHL)) netted his own short-handed score with 4:30 to play and just like that, St. Scholastica was back in the game.

 

Though with the lead, Eau Claire was on the ropes and wavering until Sam Bauler raced from his own end on a breakaway and wristed a shot at Saints goalie Tyler Johnson (East Grand Forks, Minn./East Grand Forks HS) who made the initial stop, but the puck found its way up and over his shoulder then dropped behind him for an Eau Claire insurance goal.

 

Johnson made 25 saves in the loss while his counterpart at the other end of the ice, Tyler Brigl, earned the win stopping 40 Saints shots.

 

Senior captain Shawn Bartlette (East Grand Forks, Minn./Bismark (NAHL)) picked up the assist on Spotts' first goal and sophomore alternate captain Jordan Chong (North Vancouver, British Columbia/Dryden (SIJHL)) earned the assist on the second. Baird's short-handed score was unassisted.