EAU CLAIRE, Wis. -- The Blugolds kicked off the 2013-2014 season by recognizing the national championship season from just a year ago. After a bit of a slow start, they began the season the same way they ended last season, with a win, this time it was a 5-2 victory against St. Olaf (Minn.) in front of 1,600 people at Hobbs Ice Center.
With several former players from last year's team in attendance, they began the night by revealing the NCAA national championship banner. When they finally dropped the puck, things got interesting quickly. A St. Olaf (0-3-0) player received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct just 1:31 into the period, giving the Blugolds (1-0-0) a five-minute power-play.
The Oles killed off the majority of the power-play, but at 6:29, Jeff Pauluk took a shot from the point that beat the St. Olaf goalkeeper high to the blocker side for the first goal of the season. Charles Thauwald and Niko Kapetanovic assisted on the goal.
Tyler Green made his first career start for the Blugolds after seeing just 20 minutes of action last season behind Brandon Stephenson and Alex Bjerk. He made 20 saves on 22 shots to earn his first collegiate victory.
After a chippy first period that had seven penalties for 25 minutes, there were just three penalties the rest of the way. The Blugolds were 1-for-5 with the man-advantage, while the Oles were 0-for-1. The Blugolds also outshot the Oles 34-22.
No. 2 St. Nobert 4, Finlandia 1
HANCOCK, Mich. -- St. Norbert overcame a sluggish start and claimed a 4-1 win against Finlandia in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association matchup at Houghton County Arena. It was the first meeting between the two programs.
St. Norbert (3-0, 3-0 NCHA) outshot the Lions 9-6 in the first 20 minutes but settled for a 0-0 tie.
The Green Knights scored first for the first time on the season with an unassisted goal by Michael Hill at the 6:59 mark, his second marker of the season. Joe Perry then scored twice 33 seconds apart late in the second period to give St. Norbert some breathing room. Perry scored a power-play goal at 16:50, then scored unassisted at 17:23.
Finlandia (0-3, 0-1) scored with 18 seconds left in the second period when Scott Vargas put home a loose puck in front of the net.
Sam Higgins gave St. Norbert a 4-1 lead when he scored at 16:51 of the third period.
No. 6 Adrian 4, Milwaukee Engineering 1
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- The new conference has not changed many things on the ice for Adrian as they improved to 3-0, 3-0 NCHA with a 4-1 win at Milwaukee Engineering (0-3, 0-3 NCHA) on Friday night at Kern Center.
The Bulldogs improved to 12-1 at the Kern Center as they converted on a pair of power play goals and even-strength goals to defeat their rival for the sixth consecutive time. In addition, the Bulldogs extended their road unbeaten streak to 20 games (18-0-2) dating back to the 2011-12 season.
Freshman Austin Hervey scored his first goal as a collegian at 10:24 of the first on the power play with assists from Ryan Lowe and Chris Leone. The Bulldogs led 2-0 after 20 minutes as junior Shelby Gray scored his second goal of the season at 18:41 with assists from Hervey and freshman Jeremy Olinyk. Adrian led 14-8 in shots on goal after the first period.
No. 10 Wisconsin-Stevens Point 8, Gustavus Adolphus 4
STEVENS POINT, Wis. -- Josh Daley scored twice and six other players scored as No. 10 Wisconsin-Stevens Point defeated Gustavus Adolphus 8-4 on Friday night at K.B. Willett Arena.
The Pointers (3-0) scored three times in each of the first two periods to build a 6-2 lead entering the third period. Gustavus (1-2) managed two third-period goals but could not get any close than 6-3.
Kyle Politz, Daley, and Nick D'Avolio all scored in the first period for UWSP. Corey Leivermann scored just 26 seconds after Politz's opener for the Gusties. Scott Henegar had two assists in the period for the Pointers.
