Pointers beat Hobart for National Championship Game berth
Portage County Gazette
By John Kemmeter
Playing at home in the Frozen Four for the first time since 1990, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) men’s hockey team pulled out a win over eighth-ranked Hobart (N.Y.) in a tight NCAA Division III National Semifinal at K.B. Willett Arena Friday, March 22.
After Hobart (21-8-2) scored a pair of power-play goals in the second period to tie the game at 3-3, UWSP All-American senior forward Tanner Karty answered with a goal 39 seconds later to give the Pointers a 4-3 lead, and they added an empty-net goal late to close out a 5-3 victory and advance to the National Championship Game.
“(Our performance) was poor at times, we weren’t ready for pressure,” said UWSP men’s hockey head coach Tyler Krueger. “The moment got to us right away in our home rink, but we’ve done it like we’ve done it all year.
“We didn’t have our ‘A’ game from the get-go, and we had to scramble and find Plan B, and we’ve done it all year and made some adjustments and got things going and had timely scoring when needed,” he said. “Guys stuck with each other throughout it all, didn’t get too frazzled, and found a way to win at the end.”
Looking to move on to the National Title Game for the fourth time in six years, UWSP took on Hobart Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd and struck fast, as junior forward Luke McElhenie scored 46 seconds into the game on assists from sophomore forward Ryan MacKellar and junior defenseman Danny Kiraly to give the Pointers a 1-0 lead.
Hobart scored an unassisted goal at the 10:14 mark of the first period to tie the game at 1-1, but sophomore forward Zach Zech scored with 2:09 left in the opening period on assists from Karty and senior defenseman Ryan Bittner to give UWSP a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.
The Pointers extended their lead midway through the second period, as sophomore forward Colin Raver scored at the 9:06 mark on assists from Karty and Kiraly, before Hobart took advantage of UWSP’s only two penalties of the game.
Hobart scored a power-play goal at the 13:38 mark to close within 3-2, and 10 seconds after another penalty, scored a power-play goal to tie the game at 3-3 at the 14:16 mark of the second period.
“They were two breakdowns that ended on the back of our net, it’s a simple, easy fix,” said Krueger. “But we felt pretty confident in our game, when we got it going, that we could score in bunches when we got the opportunities.”
Karty answered just 39 seconds later, as he scored an unassisted goal to put the Pointers ahead 4-3 at 14:55 of the second period.
“I had space, I tried to get it on net, and I tried to get it up,” said Karty. “I saw nobody was really going far post, so I didn’t really see a point in shooting for a rebound.
“I just tried to get it up, and he was leaning,” he said.
UWSP held onto its 4-3 lead until late in the third period, when junior forward Austin Kelly scored an empty-net goal with 59.9 seconds left to close out a 5-3 victory.
All-American sophomore goalie Connor Ryckman made 23 saves, Kiraly recorded two assists, and Karty finished with one goal and two assists, as he set the UWSP record with his 20th career game-winning goal to give the Pointers a chance to play for the National Title at home the following night.
“It’s been our goal since Day 1, since we started our pre-season training,” said Kiraly. “So for us, it’s an amazing opportunity to do it here in Stevens Point, in front of our home crowd.
“It’s kind of surreal,” he said. “So we’re just looking forward to tomorrow, and getting ready for it.”