Hockey To Host Superior, St. Scholastica this Weekend

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Posted: Wednesday, February 2, 2005

EAU CLAIRE - The UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team will welcome a pair of Northern Collegiate Hockey Association foes to Hobbs Arena this Friday and Saturday, when the Blugolds host No. 3 UW-Superior and St. Scholastica.

The Blugolds will square off with the third-ranked Yellowjackets Friday night at 7:05 p.m. and then face the Saints Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Both games will be held at Hobbs Ice Arena.

Eau Claire comes into the weekend on a five-game losing streak and a six-game winless streak. St. Scholastica tied 2-2 with the Blugolds on January 14 to start the skid and the Yellowjackets extended it with a 6-0 win the following night. Eau Claire has since lost to second-ranked St. Norbert and Lake Forest twice each. The Blugolds carry an overall record of 8-10-3 into play and a record of 1-7-2 in the NCHA, worst in the conference.

Rob Ouimette (Sr.-Iron Bridge, ONT/Leamington District) leads the Blugolds with 17 goals and 29 points. He is currently third in the NCHA in goals and fifth in points while leading the conference with nine power-play goals. Pete Eloranta (Sr.-River Falls) is tops on the team and tied for seventh in the conference with 15 assists. Chip Dunleavy (Jr.-Littleton, CO/Columbine) leads the NCHA with four shorthanded goals but is out of action with an injury.

Blugold goalie Steffan Braunlich (Jr.-Playa del Rey, CA/Loyola) leads the NCHA with 568 saves but has just a 6-7-3 record to show for it.

Superior is second in the NCHA with a 7-1-2 conference mark and is three points back of St. Norbert for the conference lead. The Yellowjackets have an overall mark of 14-1-6 on the year, with the only loss coming last Saturday in a 2-0 upset by River Falls. Ryan Melbourne leads the Yellowjackets and the conference with 19 goals and is tied for sixth with 26 points. Mike Wiggins is third in the conference in points and assists with 31 and 21 respectively.

The Yellowjackets also boast the top two goalies in the conference according to the goals against average. Baron Bradley is posting a goals against average of 1.64 while Mathieu Bonnelly is right behind him at 1.69.

Superior has dominated the all-time series between the two teams, posting a 61-31-3 record against the Blugolds, including wins in 21 of the last 22 contests.

St. Scholastica comes into the weekend with a record of 5-12-4 overall record and a 2-7-1 mark in NCHA play, tied for second-to-last in the conference. The Saints topped Stout 5-1 last Saturday.

St. Scholastica does not have a single player in the top 10 in points in the NCHA, but Mike Rossa is tied for 10th in the conference with 10 goals. Josh Liebig is second in the conference with 443 saves between the pipes.

The Blugolds have posted a 36-14-3 all-time record against the Saints, including the 2-2 earlier this season. The two teams split the season series last year.

The action is set to begin this Friday at 7:05 p.m. at Hobbs Ice Arena.