BY RICH PALZEWIC
SPORTS EDITOR
DE PERE – The St. Norbert College hockey team didn’t get a win Nov. 17, but a 1-1 tie with UW-Stevens Point was the next best thing.
The No. 4-ranked Green Knights and No. 1 Pointers entertained fans for 65 minutes in a non-conference game at the Cornerstone Community Center in De Pere.
After St. Norbert’s Roman Uchyn put the Green Knights up 1-0 just a minute into the third period, Point knotted the score with less than eight minutes remaining in regular time.
Uchyn jammed in a rebound in front of the net off assists from Peyton Frantti and Peter Bates.
St. Norbert (4-2-1) outshot Point 5-1 in the overtime period, but goalie Connor Ryckman came up big to preserve the tie for Stevens Point (6-0-2).
“That was a very well played hockey game and worth the price of admission,” said assistant coach Andy Brandt.
St. Norbert had already lost to conference rival Adrian earlier in the season, so another defeat to a top team would have hurt its chances come the postseason for an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III tournament.
The win over Point came on the heels of a 2-1 non-conference victory over No. 6 UW-Eau Claire the night before.
In a scoreless first period, St. Norbert had the best chance to score late in the frame after Keegan Milligan took a pass in the slot and fired a shot from point-blank range, but Ryckman made a strong glove save.
“We had opportunities in the first to get a goal, but Ryckman was up to the challenge,” Brandt said. “We would have liked to finish the game with a win, but we had some opportunities.”
St. Norbert was 0-for-5 during the first two periods combined on the power play and 0-for-6 in the game.
“Stevens Point was over 90 percent on the penalty kill coming into the game,” Brandt added. “They do a really good job of packing it in tight and knowing when to pressure. We did have opportunities. We have to tip our hat to the Pointers – they do a heck of a job blocking shots.”
Green Knights goalie T.J. Black made 19 saves, while St. Norbert outshot the Pointers 26-20 overall.
The Green Knights return to action Nov. 23-24 when they host Stevenson University and Neumann University on back-to-back days in non-conference games.
Box score
Stevens Point: 0, 0, 1, 0 – 1
St. Norbert: 0, 0, 1, 0 – 1
First period: No scoring.
Second period: No scoring.
Third period: 1, SNC, Roman Uchyn (Peyton Frantti, Peter Bates), 1:06; 2, UWSP, Ryan Bittner (Ryan MacKellar, T.J. Roo), 12:13.
Overtime: No scoring.
Shots on goal: UWSP, 5-4-10-1 – 20; SNC, 6-8-7-5 – 26.
Goalies: UWSP, Connor Ryckman (26 shots, 25 saves); SNC, T.J. Black (20 shots, 19 saves).
Power-play opportunities: UWSP, 0-for-3; SNC, 0-for-6.
Penalties: UWSP, 6-12; SNC, 3-6.
Attendance: 1,103.