MENOMONIE, Wis. – No. 13 UW-Stout continued its torrid stretch of hockey Tuesday night at Fanetti Community Center, skating past Saint Mary's (MN) 4–1 to extend its winning streak to six games and avenge one of its only regular-season losses this year.
The Blue Devils, playing on a unique Tuesday night and fresh off road victories over No. 3 St. Norbert along with a sweep of rival UW–River Falls, looked every bit the team that cracked the national rankings for the first time this season — and for the first time since 2009.
After a relatively uneventful opening period, UW-Stout broke through early in the second thanks to a momentum-shifting play in its own zone. Jake McAlpine delivered a heavy hit to force a turnover, allowing Brendan Boyce to collect the puck behind the Blue Devils' goal line. Boyce sent a stretch pass through the middle of the ice to a streaking Arhip Sidarovich, who slipped behind the defense and beat the goaltender blocker side on the breakaway to give Stout a 1–0 lead at 2:49.
The Blue Devils doubled the advantage just over two minutes later following another Saint Mary's turnover in the defensive zone. Noah Tyrrell worked the puck from below the goal line and found McAlpine crashing the net, where he one-timed the feed top shelf to make it 2–0.
Saint Mary's trimmed the deficit early in the third period, but UW-Stout responded quickly and decisively.
Will Sinclair flipped a puck out of the defensive zone and into space, springing McCabe Dvorak on a breakaway. With the goaltender aggressively challenging, Dvorak calmly walked around him and tucked in a one-handed finish to restore the two-goal cushion midway through the period.
UW-Stout put the game away with its third breakaway goal of the night. This time, Nicholas Stevens sent a long flip pass ahead to Hayden Stocks, who beat the defense up ice. With the goaltender staying home, Stocks deked to his backhand and slid the puck five-hole to seal the 4–1 victory.
Dawson Green was steady in net for the Blue Devils, turning aside 31 shots, as UW-Stout continued to assert itself as one of the hottest teams in the country.
With the win, UW-Stout improves to 10–2–1 on the season, extends its winning streak to six games, and earns revenge against the Cardinals after a 4–1 loss in the season opener at Saint Mary's.
By the Numbers
-
4 – Goals scored by UW-Stout, including three breakaway goals
-
6 – Straight wins for the Blue Devils
-
13 – UW-Stout's national ranking entering the week
-
31 – Saves by Dawson Green
-
2 – Goals scored in the second period to break open a scoreless game
-
1 – Goal allowed over the final 39:11 of play
Up Next
UW-Stout hits the road to close out a busy week of nonconference action. The Blue Devils travel to Augsburg on Friday night at 7 p.m., before wrapping up the week at Concordia College (Moorhead) on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
