St. Norbert Rallies to Key Win Over UW-Eau Claire

From Sports Information Director, January 28, 2012 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

GREEN BAY - St. Norbert College rallied from a two-goal deficit to claim a 5-4 win over UW-Eau Claire in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Cornerstone Community Center.

The triumph allowed the Green Knights (12-5-4, 9-4-1 NCHA) to remain in first place in the league, holding a one-point edge of St. Scholastica. Eau Claire (11-8-2, 5-8-1) fell to 1-43-3 against the Green Knights since the 1994-95 season with the loss.

St. Norbert trailed 4-2 late in the second period and also found itself on the penalty kill. The game turned around when Johan Ryd and Kyle Stroh broke out on a shorthanded rush. Ryd's initial shot on Eau Claire goaltender Brandon Stephenson rebounded right to Stroh, who buried the puck into an open net to halve the Green Knights' deficit at the 18:05 mark. It was St. Norbert's first shorthanded goal of the season.

The Green Knights didn't wait too long to get the equalizer in the third period, when Chris Rial scored his third goal of the year at 1:30 of the frame. The score remained 4-4 until St. Norbert cashed in on an Eau Claire turnover and Joe Perry scored his second goal of the night with a 4-on-4 marker at 18:11.

Eau Claire had an extra attacker on for the last minute but couldn't get back to even.

St. Norbert scored a couple of power-play goals in the first period to take a 2-1 lead. Stroh scored at 1:34 for the game's first score. Kurt Weston then scored unassisted at 13:28 for the Blugolds. St. Norbert answered when Perry scored at 17:04

Eau Claire scored three teams in what was a disastrous period for St. Norbert until Stroh's shorthanded goal. Alex Olson scored at 3:51, followed by Ross Andersen at 7:45. Devin Mantha finished off the Blugolds' three-goal run at 13:13.

Cullen Bradshaw had four assists to lead St. Norbert on the scoresheet, while Stroh had an assist to give him a three-point night.

St. Norbert outshot Eau Claire 29-15. David Jacobson made 11 saves for the Green Knights, while Stephenson made 24 stops for the Blugolds. St. Norbert was 2-for-6 on the power play, while Eau Claire was 0-for-4.