Pointer hockey dumps national champs, moves to No. 2 in poll By DON FRIDAY Special to The Gazette The evidence continues to grow with each passing game. The UW-Stevens Point hockey team will maintain its accustomed position as a major player on the national scene this season. Any lingering doubts were removed last weekend when the Pointers survived both a 28-hour bus trip and the challenge of facing two of the top five ranked NCAA Division 3 teams in the nation on their home ice. UW-SP, ranked No. 2 in the nation this week, stunned then No. 2 ranked and perennial hockey kingpin Middlebury, Vt. on Friday night, 3-1, before 1,800 fans at Kenyon Arena. The Pointers, who put most of their focus on Middlebury, a 2-1 winner over UW-SP in the 1998 national championship game, then took on No. 5 ranked Norwich University on Saturday and dropped a tight 3-2 decision to the Cadets at Northfield, Vt. The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak for coach Joe Baldarotta's outfit, which is now 9-2 on the season. The Pointers, who lead the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) with a 5-1 record, return to the friendly confines of Willett Arena for a pair of non-conference games this weekend, taking on Augsburg (Minn.) College on Friday and Bethel (Minn.) on Saturday. Both games will start at 7:30 p.m. and can be heard on WWSP, 90-FM. At Middlebury, the Pointers snapped a 1-1 tie by scoring two goals in the third period. Troy Michalski hit an open net from the left point at 4:37 after Panthers' goalie Jon Marsh was unable to recover in time after stopping a previous shot which forced him away from the net. The clinching goal, which came at the 6:12 mark, was scored by Marco Capizzano on a wrist shot from the left wing that sailed in over Marsh's right shoulder. The Pointers had taken a 1-0 lead 7:45 into the second period on a rebound goal by Mikhail Salineko, following a power play shot by David Boehm. Middlebury, however, got the equalizer at 17:49 on a rebound goal by Jack Kennedy. Sophomore goalie Bob Gould was named Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) player of the week for his sterling weekend play. He turned aside 29 shots against five-time national champion Middlebury as the Pointers handed the Panthers just their second home loss in 43 games. Gould also entered the Norwich game in the third period with his team trailing 3-0 and held the Cadets scoreless while making nine saves the rest of the way. For the weekend, he posted a 0.76 goals against average and a .974 save percentage. Two goals by Jim Nagle and one by Keith Aucoin gave Norwich its 3-0 lead after two periods Saturday. The Pointers, however, rallied on an unassisted goal at 5:35 by Ryan Maxson and a goal by Michalski, who was assisted by Josh Strassman and Maxson, at 11:00. The Cadets managed to hold on for the win behind strong goaltending from Randy Hevey who was credited with 21 saves. Dave Cinelli stopped 13 Norwich shots in goal for the Pointers during the first two periods. Plattsburgh (N.Y.) State, which won a pair of games last week to improve to 9-0, retained its No. 1 spot in this week's national poll, followed by Stevens Point, Norwich (4-1-0), St. Thomas, Minn. (6-0-1) and Middlebury (3-2-0). UW-Superior (8-3-0) is No. 6 and St. Norbert College (8-3-0) No. 7. Men's Basketball UW-SP went down to the wire Wednesday night at UW-Superior and held off the Yellowjackets 65-63. The Pointers (6-2 overall, 2-1 WIAC) led by 10, 60-50, with 5:53 remaining but Superior crawled back and had a pair of chances to tie the game and send it into overtime. After Brant Bailey missed the second of two free throws, the Yellowjackets called a 20 second timeout. Forward Vince Thomas, who had already scored 19 points, missed a jumper with nine seconds left and guard Rocky Bouldin grabbed the rebound and missed a jumper as time expired. The Pointers took a 30-29 advantage into the locker room and then stretched their lead using a trio of jumpers and two free throws from Ben Benesh, and baskets by Gabe Frank and Jay Bennett. Frank led UW-SP's balanced attack with 13 points and Bailey had 12. Guard Jason Strilzuk paced the Yellowjackets with 22 points. The Pointers connected on 23 of 48 shots from the field (.479) while Superior hit 23 of 50 (.460). UW-SP held the edge at the line, connecting on 14 of 22 attempts while the home team hit 11 of 18. The Pointers gave UW-Eau Claire, regarded as a co-favorite with defending champion Platteville in the WIAC race this season, a fight to the finish before bowing in overtime, 71-68, before 2,300 fans at Zorn Arena last Saturday. A 3-point bomb from the far corner by Brent Larson with 1:01 remaining capped a rally from a 10-point deficit and sent the teams into a five-minute overtime period deadlocked at 58. After hitting just 5 of 14 free throws during regulation, the Blugolds connected on 8 of 10 in the extra period, led by junior guard Matt Fermanich who drained 5 of 6. Junior guard Larson buried two more treys in the overtime, the second of which drew UW-SP to within 69-68 with :08 remaining but Fermanich hit two free throws, the second of which came with four seconds left, to seal the win. Larson's desperation heave from mid-court at the buzzer came up short. The Pointers connected on 10 of 25 shots from beyond the arc compared to 8 of 20 by the Blugolds, won the rebound battle, 40-35, and committed fewer turnovers, 19-17. UW-EC, however, hit on 25 of 52 shots overall (.481) while UW-SP, which also missed six free throws in just 12 attempts, shot just .406 on 26 of 64. The hosts also had a pronounced 23-11 advantage in assists. Gabe Frank, who buried 4 of 7 shots from long range, and Brant Bailey, who also grabbed eight rebounds, led UW-SP with 21 points each. All-WIAC selections Sherm Carstenson and Jon Wallenfelsz led Eau Claire with 21 and 19 points respectively. Former SPASH standout Ben Schneeberger, who started, had one point and three rebounds in 17 minutes for UW-EC. Frank, a 6-5 senior from Northbrook, Ill. was named Pointer player of the week after scoring 36 points in a win over Whitewater and the loss to Eau Claire. He was 7 of 13 from 3-point range. The Pointers return home Saturday to take on UW-La Crosse on Parent's Day at 7 p.m. Saturday at Quandt Fieldhouse. Women's Basketball A 10-2 run in the second half catapulted the Pointers to a 57-46 win over UW-Superior Wednesday night at the Berg Gymnasium. The spurt turned a 33-32 Yellowjackets lead into a 43-36 UW-SP advantage with 8:32 to go. The Pointers, behind a pair of baskets from Amie Schultz, a 3-pointer from Jessica Ott, and a Carrie Boehning jumper, then increased their lead to 52-41 with 2:00 remaining. The win was the first in the WIAC for the Pointers (1-2 WIAC, 2-4 overall) while Superior fell to 4-4 overall (1-2 WIAC). Boehning and Schultz had huge nights and were the only two Pointers in double figures. Boehning scored 22 points and had 11 rebounds while Schultz had 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Superior center Sheri Domitrovich led the Yellowjackets with 15 points and her 25 rebounds were nearly half of her team's 52 total. Both teams had tough nights from the field, as UW-SP connected on 22 of 68 shots (.324) and the Yellowjackets hit just 21 of 69 (.304) from the field. The Pointers dropped a 77-58 decision to perennial WIAC and national power Eau Claire in Berg Gym on Saturday afternoon. UW-SP stayed close to the Blugolds for the first half, trailing just 37-27 at the break, but a 24-5 run midway through the second half enabled Eau Claire to break the game open. It was a physical contest with 55 fouls whistled and 76 free throws attempted, 38 by each team. The Blugolds, however, dominated inside, winning the rebound battle, 58-34, including a 32-9 advantage on the offensive glass. As a result, UW-EC was able to launch 34 more shots than UW-SP. The Pointers, who were also hurt by 28 turnovers, had just one player break into double figures. Senior guard Jessica Ott had 15 points while 5-10 junior Cicely Trice added nine and 6-0 Auburndale sophomore Boehning had eight points and five rebounds. Jayme Anderson, 5-10 junior All-America candidate, poured in 33 points and came down with 11 rebounds to lead Eau Claire. Jessica Granger, a freshman point guard from Appleton (West) was named Pointer player of the week after scoring 14 points, handing out four assists and grabbing four rebounds in games against Whitewater and Eau Claire. The Pointers travel to La Crosse for a WIAC outings against the Eagles at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Swimming The Pointer men and women both came up with strong runner-up finishes at the Wheaton (Ill.) College Invitational last weekend. NCAA Division I UW-Milwaukee won the nine-team men's meet with 893 points compared to 694.5 for the Pointers. Junior standout Randy Boelk led the Pointer men with three first place finishes and a leg on a winning relay team. Boelk, who was named Pointer swimmer of the week, became only the third swimmer in NCAA Division 3 history to turn in a clocking under 50 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke (:49.56). He also won the 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle and was a member of the winning 200 medley relay team which defeated UW-M. He also tied a school record with an opening leg of :45.98 on the 400 free relay team. Nick Hansen was also a winner for UW-SP, taking the 50 freestyle, and joined Boelk, Jeremy Francioli and Brent Newport on the first place 200 medley relay team. Other high finishes for UW-SP were thirds by Newport in the 100 breaststroke and Wyatt Jansen in the 200 butterfly. Host Wheaton won the women's portion of the meet by amassing 1,018.5 points compared to 660.5 by the runner-up Pointers. Senior Becca Uphoff won the 500 free and added seconds in the 200 free and 200 back to lead the women's team. She was also a member of the third place 400 medley relay team. Senior Mary Agazzi was named swimmer of the week for UW-SP after placing second in the 100 free (:53.4), third in the 50 free and turning in a personal best :24.9 in the 200 free. Christine Sammons added a second in the 200 breast and a third in the 100 breast. The Pointers will travel to UW-Oshkosh on Saturday at 1 p.m. to take on the Titans. Wrestling A third place finish by Mitch Burger in the heavyweight division led UW-SP in the UW-Parkside Invitational at Kenosha last weekend. No team scores were kept. Burger, a sophomore from Merrill, won the third place match by forfeit. Also placing for the Pointers were Wes Kapping, fifth at 174 pounds by virtue of a 5-2 win over Andrew Melton of La Crosse and Nathan Ugoretz, sixth at 149 pounds following a 7-3 loss in the fifth place match to Corey Crandell of Truman (Mo.) State. Post Season Honors Four UW-Stevens Point football players have been named to the Football Gazette Division 3 All-West Region team. Andy Palzkill, a senior from Mineral Point, was named to the first team while senior offensive lineman Ryan Woller and senior linebacker Len Luedtke were named to the second team and sophomore center Jason Wagner to the third team. Palzkill, who boasts a 3.92 grade point average in sociology, was also named to the GTE Academic All-America second team. Earlier, he had been named to the all-district first team. Palzkill led the WIAC and ranked eighth in NCAA Division 3 with nine interceptions in helping the Pointers finish 9-2 and earn their second straight share of the WIAC championship. Luedtke, a Marshfield Senior High product, had 76 tackles this season, including 53 solo stops. Woller, a Mosinee native, was a mainstay in the offensive line at his tackle spot. Senior forward Jennifer Davis, who set the school's all-time assists career record with 47, has been named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America-Adidas Central Region first team. A Slinger native, Davis led the WIAC with 16 assists this season. Her strong play helped the Pointers (17-4) of coach Sheila Miech win the conference title for the seventh time in eight seasons and land a berth in the Division 3 playoffs. Junior forward Marie Muhvic, a hometown product from SPASH, was named to the second team after leading the WIAC with a school record 23 goals. Also earning second team honors was Verona senior midfielder Michelle Mauel. Senior defender Laura DeSelm of Hartford was named to the third team.