Lake Placid, NY (WQOW) -- The UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team's historic season ends with the sports greatest prize -- a national championship.
The Blugolds defeated Oswego State 5-3 in Lake Placid, NY to claim the school's first-ever NCAA DIII National Championship. Eau Claire battled out of an early 2-0 hole by scoring twice in the first period to tie the game 2-2 at the end of one period. Jordan Singer and Andrew Wilcox accounted for the goals.
In the 2nd period, it was Dan Olszewski finding the back of the net to give UWEC its first lead of the game. Devin Mantha would score Eau Claire's fourth unanswered goal in the third to extend the lead to 4-2.
Oswego State answered back with a Bobby Gertsakis score at the 10:00 minute mark to cut UWEC's lead down to one. It would stay that way until the final minute, when David Donnellan set up Kurt Weston for a empty-netter, sealing the victory for UW-Eau Claire.
"The veteran leadership on our team, the ten seniors and ten juniors, they've been in these situations all year and they've came out with victories. Being the newcomers, you just settle them down and get them to play our game," says coach Matt Loen following the win. "It feels awesome. It's a great feeling, a great accomplishment for our program. We'll be bringing the big trophy home to the fans."
It is the first NCAA hockey championship for the Blugolds. The team won an NAIA national title in 1984.
