St. Norbert Posts NCHA Series Sweep of UW-Stout

From Sports Information Director, October 30, 2010 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

GREEN BAY - St. Norbert College used a flurry of goals late in the first period as the impetus to post a 6-3 win over UW-Stout in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Cornerstone Community Center.

The Green Knights, who are ranked third in the USCHO.com Division III Poll, are now 2-0 overall and in the NCHA. Stout fell to 1-3 overall, 0-2 in the NCHA.

St. Norbert trailed 2-1 before scoring two goals seven seconds apart to wrest the lead away from the Blue Devils. Cody Keefer scored a power-play goal at the 14:11 mark of the first period to make it 2-2. Johan Ryd then scored at 14:18 mark to give the Green Knights a lead it would never relinquish. The two goals in seven seconds tied a St. Norbert record for fastest consecutive goals, matching Lonny Forester and Connor Hughes' feat on Feb. 18, 2005 against UW-Eau Claire.

The Green Knights took a 4-2 lead after one period on another Ryd goal, this one coming at the 16:07 mark.

The onslaught continued for St. Norbert's offense when it grabbed a 5-2 lead with a Cody Keefer goal 24 seconds into the second period. Stout's Branden Gay scored a power-play goal at the 15:25 mark of the second, but Brandon Longley's goal at 18:39 effectively ended any hopes of a Stout comeback.

Ryd and Keefer each scored two goals for St. Norbert, while Scott Pulak and Seth Soley both had three assists apiece. Ryd also had an assist to give him a three-point night. Mike Bernardy had two assists.

B.J. O'Brien finished with 18 saves for St. Norbert, which was 2-for-5 on the power play. Tom Lescovich made 34 stops for Stout, which was 2-for-3 on the power play.