Box Score
DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's hockey team saw seven Wis.-Stevens Point players score as it fell in the season opener against the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) rival Pointers by a 7-1 final on Friday evening at Mars Lakeview Arena.
The Saints (0-1-0, 0-1-0 NCHA) got on the board first when senior #Riley Riddell# scored a powerplay tally just 3:46 into the first, with assists from freshman #Nate Taurence# and junior #Carter Davis#. CSS finished one-for-three on the powerplay, while Wis.-Stevens Point (1-1-0, 1-0-0 NCHA) finished two-for-four.
The Saints peppered Stevens Point goaltender Nick Graves with 16 shots in the first period, but the Pointers struck for two late-period goals on 10 shots to pull ahead 2-1. Johnny Meo netted a powerplay goal at 18:33 in the first, followed within 30 seconds by a Jon Madden even-strength goal which put the Pointers ahead for good and started a streak of seven unanswered goals.
In the second period, the Pointers controlled play and netted a pair of even-strength goals by Garrett Suter and Kyle Heck.
UWSP outshot the Saints 11-6 in the second, and then 10-4 in the third, when they scored three more goals to pull to the eventual 7-1 final. Alex Handy netted his second of the year barely three minutes into the period, and Kyle Politz netted his first just four minutes later. In the final five minutes, Jake Skjodt scored the Pointers' second powerplay goal to finish the scoring.
#Brennan Poderzay# started in net for the Saints, making 24 saves while taking the loss. Graves made 25 saves for the Pointers.
This was the first time since the 2007-08 season that St. Scholastica has allowed seven goals in a contest, last occuring on Nov. 21, 2007 in a 7-4 defeat against Bethel University.
In the final tallies, Wis.-Stevens Point outshot St. Scholastica 31-26. The Saints took five penalties in the contest while the Pointers took four.
The Saints and Pointers will clash again tomorrow night Mars Lakeview Arena with the puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard live on ESPN Radio 560-WEBC with Steve Jezierski on the call. It can also be seen live, courtesy of the iFan Sports Network, at csssaints.com
