'Jackets Win 3-1

'JACKETS WIN AT POINT

K.B. Willett Arena in Stevens Point. Traditionally, it's one of the toughest venues in the entire west region, regardless of what kind of teams the Pointers have. That was again the case on Friday, as the home team played tough on their turf. Fortunately, the 'Jackets came in and

played a little tougher.

Two first period goals in the first seven minutes paved the way, as the 'Jackets won on the road, 3-1 over the Pointers, improving to 11-1-1 on the season, 5-0-0 in the NCHA and making their cushion four points in the league standings.

The 'Jackets opened the scoring when Jeff Herman (Sr. Cranbrook, British Columbia) let a laser go from the right circle that beat Thomas Speer up high to make it 1-0. Eric Bausano (Sr. Laurium, Michigan) and Braden Desmet (Jr. Strathmore, Alberta) assisted on the goal at 3:29 of the first period. It went to 2-0 a few minutes later. Desmet took a feed in the neutral zone, carried in on the right wing, cut to the middle and just out-waited Speer, firing the puck into the empty net to make it 2-0. Bausano got the lone assist. The Pointers got on the board with a shorthanded goal at 11:11, when rookie-sensation Jon Madden converted a 2-on-1 to make it 2-1.

In the second, the 'Jackets closed out the scoring. Ryan Kuntz (Sr. Regina, Saskatchewan) fired the puck from the left corner that glanced off the skate of a defenseman and into the net. The unassisted goal came at 17:48 and was his second of the season, a career high.

The 'Jackets took four penalties for eight minutes, while the Pointers took three for six minutes. Stevens Point went 0-4 on the power play while the 'Jackets went 0-3.

Chad Beiswenger (Sr. Moorhead, Minnesota) had to make just 16 saves in the game. He moved into the top ten in all-time saves (1405) at UWS, and also moved into third place all time in wins with 38. At the other end, Speer made 28 saves.

The 'Jackets finish off the weekend on Saturday night at Hobbs Ice Arena where they will play UW-Eau Claire. Game time will be 7:05 p.m., with the pre-game show getting underway at 6:45 p.m. The game can be heard live locally on KUWS, 91.3 FM. If you are outside the local listening area, you can tune in via the Internet at www.kuws.fm. Jon Garver will have the call.