APPLETON, Wis. — The No. 9 UW-Eau Claire hockey team scored three third-period goals to break open a close game and defeated Lawrence University 5-1 Friday night at the Appleton Family Ice Center.
The Blugolds led 2-1 after the second period in the season opener for both teams, but Eau Claire scored twice in the first 9:20 of the final period to break it open.
Preston Hodge’s goal to make it 3-1 came on a strange play. Lawrence was on the power play when the Vikings were called for a delayed penalty. Eau Claire goaltender Tyler Green was pulled and Hodge scored at the 5:16 mark on a short-handed goal.
Eau Claire’s Garrett Clemment then scored on the power play at 9:20 to make it 4-1.
The game got a little chippy in the final minutes, and Eau Claire finished with 11 penalties for 33 minutes. The Vikings had 10 penalties for 20 minutes. The Blugolds added an empty-netter with 53 seconds left to complete the scoring.
After a scoreless opening period, Eau Claire scored twice in a span of 2:08 in the middle of the second. Ethan Nauman and Preston Hodge scored to stake the Blugolds to a 2-0 advantage.
Ryan Eardley got Lawrence on the board at the 13:18 mark of the second when he took a long pass from Brendan Vetter and rifled it past Green into the upper left corner of the net.
Mattias Soderqvist stopped 26 shots for Lawrence, and Green made 23 saves for Eau Claire.