Danny Kiraly (5), Drew McLean (28), Tanner Karty (16), BJ Duffin and the top-ranked UWSP men’s hockey team will host the winner of fourth-ranked St. Norbert and sixth-ranked Augsburg (Minn.) in the NCAA Division III Tournament Quarterfinals at K.B. Willett Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 16. (John Kemmeter photo)

Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

The top-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) men’s hockey team got a third-period goal to win the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament Championship Game Saturday, March 2, and remain unbeaten heading into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Junior defenseman Danny Kiraly scored the eventual game-winner with 6:32 left in regulation, as the Pointers (26-0-2) won 3-2 over 10th-ranked UW-Eau Claire (19-7-2) in the WIAC Tournament Championship at K.B. Willett Arena Saturday night to tie the program record with a 28-game unbeaten streak.

With no automatic NCAA Tournament bid for the WIAC Tournament Champion, UWSP received a Pool C (at-large) bid to the NCAA Tournament and an opening-round bye, as the Pointers will host the winner of defending National Champion and fourth-ranked St. Norbert (22-4-3) and sixth-ranked Augsburg (Minn.) (21-3-3) in a NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal at K.B. Willett Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 16.

“This is our sixth year in a row making the NCAA Tournament, and it’s something that really never gets old,” said UWSP men’s hockey head coach Tyler Krueger. “I remember six years ago as a player, I was on the team and in that situation, we didn’t know whether we were going to make it or not, and it was pure excitement and adrenaline and joy at seeing your name come up.

“And it’s definitely one of those things that doesn’t fade away over the years, especially this year,” he said. “We knew for the last month or so that we were pretty much a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but it’s still fun to see it and to know that you’re in, and it just kind of creates another level of excitement for the next couple of weeks, and the situation that we’re in.”

After winning 3-1 at home over then-third-ranked Eau Claire Jan. 18 and rolling to a 7-1 win at Eau Claire Feb. 9, UWSP looked to win the WIAC Tournament Saturday night and claim the Commissioner’s Cup for the third time in four years, after Eau Claire knocked off the Pointers 3-2 in the Championship Game last season.

UWSP struck first Saturday, as sophomore defenseman Steven Quagliata scored a power-play goal 9:38 into the game on an assist from sophomore forward Colin Raver to give the Pointers a 1-0 lead.

Eau Claire scored at the 13:19 mark of the first period to tie the game at 1-1, but sophomore forward Carter Roo answered with 48 seconds left in the first period, as he scored a power-play goal on assists from Kiraly and junior defenseman Drew McLean to give UWSP a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

“It was a great game for us Saturday, it was a slice of humble pie, and it was kind of a punch in the face,” said Krueger. “We let our guard down a little bit, it was a game that we necessarily didn’t need to win and they did, and they played like they had a National Championship mindset and attitude, and we let our guard down a little bit and we saw how it was affected us, especially in the first 30 minutes of that game.

“They were coming at us full speed, and mentally we were just slow to accept that pressure and deal with it,” he said. “Our power play was fortunate enough to make a difference there with two first-period goals on the power play, that second goal being huge, getting the lead back going into the second there.”

Eau Claire had a power-play goal 4:20 into the second period to tie the game at 2-2, which it remained heading into the third period.

The game was still tied at 2-2 with under seven minutes to go in regulation, when Kiraly scored on assists from sophomore forward Zach Zech and senior forward Tanner Karty with 6:36 left to give the Pointers a 3-2 lead.

“Obviously a huge goal to swing things around,” said Krueger. “They came down on a rush and they almost scored, a scramble in front of the net and we kind of picked it up and attacked, with the odd-man rush the other way.

“It was one of those games where you knew it wasn’t going to be a pretty goal that decided it, it’s just a, ‘throw a puck to the net and go there with bodies and see what happens,’” he said. “And the puck had eyes between the goalie’s legs, and found a way in.”

UWSP held on the rest of the way to bring home the Commissioner’s Cup with the 3-2 victory, as sophomore goalie and WIAC Player of the Year Connor Ryckman made 27 saves to tie the single-season school record with his 23rd win this season.

“We’re a league without an automatic bid, so winning the WIAC isn’t our goal at the beginning of the year, but it is a steppingstone into our major goal of making the NCAA Tournament, and then competing for a National Championship,” said Krueger. “And it was just a good experience to play in that caliber of a game, in that type of atmosphere; in a game that has a lot of emotions in it.

“We had a fantastic crowd, as we’ve had the past five, six games, but they even took it to a new level at the Championship Game, and it had a Championship-feel to it, as far as every play matters,” he said. “And for our guys to persevere, even when we didn’t have our ‘A’ game, to find a way to win and get a timely goal and then lock things down, was huge for us.”

The 2018-19 UWSP men’s hockey team won the WIAC Tournament Championship Game and Commissioner’s Cup with a 3-2 victory over UW-Eau Claire in the WIAC Tournament Championship Game at K.B. Willett Arena Saturday, March 2. (UWSP Athletics- Kylie Bridenhagen photo)

The Pointers received one of four Pool C bids to the 12-team NCAA Division III Tournament when the brackets were released Monday, March 4, along with an opening-round bye.

UWSP will have this weekend off before it hosts the winner of St. Norbert and Augsburg in the National Quarterfinals March 16, after the Pointers tied St. Norbert 1-1 at De Pere Nov. 17, and won 3-1 at home over then-fourth-ranked Augsburg Jan. 11.

While it was a tough draw for the top-seeded team to play either the fourth or sixth seed in the Round of 8, the final tournament field had nine East Region teams and three West Region teams, and the three West Region teams were put in the same pod due to travel restrictions, where the NCAA has to pay for flights when a team plays more than 500 miles away.

“It’s in the NCAA handbook, they have their rules and they are not very flexible on them, and this is a situation that we figured we were going to be in,” said Krueger. “It is what it is, but there are 12 teams left, they all deserve to be here and they’re all good teams, so you’ve just got to play whoever they put in front of you.

“Our motto all year has been, ‘anytime, anybody, anywhere,’ and we know when we play our game, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, where we’re playing or when we’re playing, we feel confident in our ability to beat anybody that’s put in front of us,” he said.

There is no predetermined Final Four site this year, as one of the Final Four teams will be chosen to host the National Semifinals and National Championship Game March 22 and 23.

The NCAA has said that a West Region team will have preference to host the Final Four in 2019, so the winner of UWSP’s National Quarterfinal Game may be at home to host the Division III Frozen Four the following weekend.

“We knew all year that if we were a top Western seed, that we had a chance to have it at the Willett,” said Krueger. “And in the past couple of years, we actually played worse at home than we did on the road, we didn’t handle the pressure of the crowd and the atmosphere very well, and this year we’ve thrived in those scenarios, with the exception of Saturday.

“We need to learn how to deal with the pressure and expectations that are upon us, and you can either view them as a challenge, or you can view them as a threat, and we need to learn how to use it to our advantage, and just play mindful and free and not afraid to make a mistake,” he said. “So it’s going to be a key for us over the next eight days of practice and moving forward, to give us the best chance of success to continue to keep playing into the end of March.”