|
Pointer Men Edge
Past Lake Forest
By Scott Williams
Stevens Point Journal
Original
Article
Box Score
University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's hockey coach Joe Baldarotta isn't ready to don
the sunglasses and suntan lotion yet.
But the Pointers' future suddenly looks a lot brighter in the Northern
Collegiate Hockey Association.
UWSP helped its cause in the league points race Friday night by securing a
determined 3-2 decision against seventh-ranked Lake Forest College at K.B.
Willett Arena.
The win enables the Pointers (11-5-2, 4-2-1 league) to vault over the
Foresters and Superior into second place in the NCHA.
Awaiting tonight is a date with NCHA-leading and second-ranked St. Norbert.
Face-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
"We needed two points tonight," said Baldarotta.
Hardly a disciplinarian, Baldarotta felt his team needed to follow a strict
game plan to be successful.
The Pointers' figured their best chance to win if they stayed out of the
penalty box against a much-improved Lake Forest team.
Mission accomplished. UWSP held its composure, especially early in the game
and showed their superiority at full strength.
Justin Micek, Ryan Kirchhoff and Jordan Blair, who cashed in on the only
power-play chance, all scored in the opening 27 minutes as UWSP built what
appeared to be a solid 3-0 lead.
"We knew we had to be more disciplined. We didn't discern between a good
penalty or a bad penalty. We just had to stay out of the penalty box,"
Baldarotta said.
The importance of the game wasn't lost on the Foresters either.
Lake Forest may have been too ready for the game. Such is the mind-set for a
team that is 3-21-1 in its last 25 games against the Pointers.
Their last win at Willett came in the 1998-99 season.
"We just never got going until 10 minutes into the second period," said Lake
Forest coach Tony Fritz. "I'm not sure if you can really blame that on bus
legs. I think we were just too hyped up for the game. I think it had more to
do with wanting it too badly."
A 3-0 lead 27 minutes into the game should be enough
Yeah, right.
Nothing comes easy for UWSP of late, and this would be the latest example.
Lake Forest (12-4-1, 4-3 NCHA) got on the scoreboard only 58 seconds after
falling behind 3-0 courtesy of Troy Lother's goal.
Tyler Canal then placed the game in limbo when he put the puck past Pointer
goalie Ryan Scott with 1:31 left in the second period to make it 3-2.
Scott (29 saves) made sure enough was enough and slammed the door on the
Foresters the rest of the way, stopping all 12 shots he faced in the final
period.
"We've got to keep going. I think we got comfortable. We need to stay on the
peddle and not give them a chance to get back in the game," said Micek.
|
|
|
