The third-ranked and defending NCAA Division III
National Champion University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) men’s hockey
team will host ninth-ranked UW-Eau Claire in the Championship Game of the
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament at 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 4, at K.B. Willett Arena.

The top-seeded Pointers (20-4-3) swept fifth-seeded
UW-Superior (8-19-2) last weekend to advance to the WIAC Tournament Championship
against Eau Claire, which will be UWSP’s last game before the NCAA Division III
Tournament brackets are released Monday, March 6.

In Game 1 of the WIAC Semifinal Series, the top-seeded
Pointers (20-4-3) won 5-1 at home over fifth-seeded UW-Superior (8-19-2) Friday,
Feb. 24.

Junior forward Willem Nong-Lambert scored a power-play
goal 4:28 into the game to give UWSP a 1-0 lead, and senior forward Jono Davis
scored at the 5:00 mark of the second period to make it 2-0, before Superior scored
at 17:36 of the second period to close within 2-1.

However, Davis, freshman forward Logan Fredericks and Kelly
O’Brien each scored goals in the third period to close out the 5-1 win, as Davis
finished with two goals and an assist, Nong-Lambert and O’Brien each had a goal and
an assist, sophomore forward Tanner Karty added two assists, and junior goalie Max
Milosek made 13 saves.

The Pointers rolled to an 8-1 win over Superior in Game
2 of the Semifinal Series Saturday night, as they led 2-1 heading into the
second period, when senior forward Lawrence Cornellier scored three goals and
Karty had one to push the lead to 6-1.

Cornellier finished with four goals and Karty had two
goals, while senior forward Jacob Barber totaled one goal and three assists, freshman
defenseman Drew McLean recorded three assists, sophomore defenseman Ryan
Bittner had two assists, freshman forward Austin Kelly scored a goal, and
Milosek made 44 saves.

The win sent UWSP to the WIAC Championship Game to face Eau
Claire, which won 3-1 at home over third-seeded UW-River Falls (12-12-2) Friday
night and 6-3 over River Falls last Saturday in the other WIAC Semifinal
Series.

The Pointers swept Eau Claire during the regular season,
with a 3-2 win at home Jan. 20 and a 4-1 win at Eau Claire in the regular-season
finale Feb. 11.

There is no automatic NCAA Tournament bid to the
winner of the WIAC Regular Season Title or WIAC Tournament Title, but one Pool
B bid for the 12-team NCAA Tournament is available for members of conferences
that do not have an automatic bid.

That Pool B bid will go to a team from the WIAC or the
ECAC West, which features sixth-ranked Hobart (19-4-4) and 12th-ranked Utica (18-8),
while four Pool C (at-large) bids are available to teams that don’t receive one
of the seven automatic bids.

The 12-team NCAA Tournament field will be selected
Monday, March 6, with eight teams competing in first round games Saturday,
March 11.

The NCAA Quarterfinals are set for Saturday, March 18,
with the NCAA Division III Frozen Four to be held in Utica, N.Y., March 24 and 25.