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Pointer Hockey Comes Home to Victory
by Scott Williams
Stevens Point Journal
Original Article
Box
Score
After a six-game road trip,
the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's hockey team was starving for
some home cooking.
So the Pointers used the return to more familiar surroundings Friday night to
stuff themselves on power-play goals.
Adam Kostichka scored a pair of power-play goals and UWSP held on for a 3-2
victory over Lake Forest College in Northern Collegiate Hockey Association
action at K.B. Willett Arena.
The Pointers are now 7-1-2 at home this season.
"We've been playing together all year," said Kostichka, who has been sporting
four staples in his elbow for an injury he suffered last week against St.
Norbert. "We have some outstanding players out there and it just happens I've
been in the right spot to score.
"In this league, the power play and penalty kill, too, is huge. It's a real big
part of the game."
The game was big on a number
of fronts for the Pointers.
With the victory, UWSP (9-8-3, 4-4-1 NCHA) put some distance between themselves
and the Foresters in the fight for home ice in the first round of the league
playoffs.
In addition, it stopped some bleeding from the recently completed 1-4-1 road
trip, and the Pointers avenged a loss to Lake Forest (7-12-1, 3-6 NCHA) by the
identical score last Saturday.
"We knew it was going to be tight-checking. That is how they play. They take
away the boards and clog everything up," UWSP coach Joe Baldarotta said. "That
was a tough game. There are some big points on the line the rest of the season."
The Pointers picked up two
points by overcoming a season-long trend of falling behind early.
For the 23rd time in the last 26 games, it was the opposition that struck first.
This time it was Ryan Scapinello who handled the honors for the Foresters,
converting a 2-on-1 with Brian Lee less than 3 minutes into the game.
Playing catch-up has become old hat for the Pointers, who never blinked.
Kostichka scored with a one-timer off a pass from Mike Brolsma to tie the game
after one period.
"Stich has obviously got the hot hand on the power play. He has been shooting
the puck real well," said Baldarotta, whose power-play unit ranks sixth in
Division III, clicking at about a 25 percent rate. "Coach (Paul Caufield)
deserves the credit. He works with the power play all the time."
Kostichka's second goal, again
with the man-advantage, perhaps was a sign of better things to come. UWSP has
been burned more times than it would like to remember in the final minute of a
period this season.
This time Kostichka, a former Stevens Point Area Senior High athlete, turned the
tables when he found the back of the net with 15 seconds left in the second
period to put the Pointers up 2-1. It was his team-leading 15th goal of the
season.
"That really helps when you score late. We've seen other teams do that enough,"
Baldarotta said.
Freshman Tom Vernelli supplied a two-goal cushion when he struck for his seventh
goal at 7:21 of the final period.
But nothing seems to come easy for the Pointers these days.
Cory Wilson put a rebound past Pointer goalie Bryn Davies with 6:28 remaining in
regulation to bring the Foresters within 3-2.
That was all the offense Lake Forest could muster.
"We're in the hunt. There are five games left in the regular season. There are
10 points to be had and that is a lot of points," said Baldarotta, whose team
currently sits in fourth place.
The Pointers host NCHA co-leader and second-ranked St. Norbert tonight in a 7:30
p.m. face-off.
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