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Pointers Forced to
Tie with UW-Stout
By Scott Williams
Stevens Point Journal
Original
Article
Box Score
University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's hockey coach Joe Baldarotta looked like
someone had destroyed his cigar collection or run over his dog.
The realization of spending the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association
playoffs on the road had set in for Baldarotta.
UWSP watched any chance of getting home ice for the opening round of the
playoffs vanish after a 3-3 tie with UW-Stout on Friday at K.B. Willett
Arena.
"We needed to win tonight. We needed it bad," Baldarotta admitted. "We don't
make anything easy on ourselves. We haven't all year. Our back are against
the wall."
The Pointers (12-9-3,
5-6-2 NCHA) remain two points ahead of Stout (13-9-2, 4-7-2 NCHA) for the
fifth playoff spot entering the regular-season finale against River Falls
tonight.
Meanwhile, Lake Forest moved four points in front of Stevens Point for the
fourth position.
Stout travels to Eau Claire, which dealt the Falcons a 4-2 loss last night.
Should the Blue Devils and UWSP tie, Stout owns the tiebreaker by taking the
season series (1-0-1).
"It didn't hurt us. There
are no easy points in this league," Stout coach Terry Watkins said. "We have
to win (today).
"I think at this time of
year it doesn't matter who you play in the playoffs. Everyone is beating
everyone else."
Adding to the Pointer
blues was watching a gallant comeback from a 2-0 deficit go for naught.
Mitch Kellin and John
Schaffner staked the Blue Devils to the early lead.
Freshman Dan Francis led the charge as UWSP got itself back into the game.
Francis scored with 1 second left in a five-minute cross-checking penalty on
the Blue Devils' Josh Blair to cut the margin in half.
Nearly seven minutes later Micek found Francis cruising the high slot. He
busted his stick on the shot, which somehow fluttered past Stout goalie Jeff
Dotson, who was a difference maker with 34 saves.
The goals were the first for Francis since the Christmas break.
"It doesn't mean anything really since we didn't win the game," said
Francis, who increased his goal total to six. "I've been in a slump since
Christmas scoring goals. Hopefully this will spark something the rest of the
year." UWSP rode the momentum into the third period.
Nick Zebro gave the Pointers their first lead of the night, deflecting James
Jernberg's shot from the point past Dotson at 6:23.
Before the celebration subsided, Stout got back to even on Kellin's second
goal of the night just 33 seconds later, demoralizing UWSP in the process.
"We got the lead, and then we just made a dumb play. One of the fundamentals
of hockey is when you score a goal you don't give one up on the next shift,"
Baldarotta said. "We had to get to four there instead of giving one up."
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