Hoffner returns as Pointers host UW-Eau Claire By DON FRIDAY Special to The Gazette It certainly doesn't rank with Mike Holmgren's return to Green Bay's Lambeau Field Monday night, but another coaching homecoming will take place at Stevens Point's Goerke Field Saturday afternoon. The stakes will be high for the UW-Stevens Point football team when the Pointers take on a UW-Eau Claire outfit directed by first year coach Todd Hoffner, an eight-year top assistant to UW-SP head coach John Miech (1 p.m., Radio Station WIZD, 99.9-FM). Hoffner, who at different times served as both offensive and defensive coordinator under Miech, has guided the Blugolds to records of 2-4 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and 2-6 overall. Despite the unimpressive record, however, UW-EC has shown the ability to compete with the conference heavyweights and has absorbed four WIAC losses by a combined total of just 11 points. Last week, the Blugolds lost, 49-46, in two overtimes to La Crosse, which handed the Pointers their only loss of the season two weeks ago. It's a huge game for UW-SP, which can secure no worse than a share of the WIAC championship for the second year in a row, as well as a NCAA Division 3 playoff berth. A victory would enable the Pointers to finish their league season 6-1. La Crosse can gain no worse than a title share by beating Oshkosh at home on Saturday. Since UW-L owns the tie-breaker advantage over UW-SP, the Eagles would gain the automatic playoff berth which goes to the league champion. A win over Eau Claire, however, would give the Pointers an 8-1 overall record and put them in excellent position to gain one of the four available NCAA at-large playoff spots. Although UW-SP still has a game left against Bemidji (Minn.) State in the Minneapolis Metrodome on Sunday, Nov. 14, the NCAA will announce its playoff field earlier in the day, so the outcome of that contest will not affect the selections. The Pointers have dominated the gridiron series against Eau Claire. Miech is 11-0 in the rivalry with the Blugolds. Last season, UW-EC tied for the league crown and advanced to the NCAA Division 3 playoff semifinals before losing to Rowan (N.J.) on a last-second field goal. In the 27-17 win at Platteville last week, the Pointer defense held the pass-happy Pioneers to 12 yards rushing while picking off seven passes, third highest total in school history. Wally Schmitt led the offense with 128 yards rushing. UW-SP player of the week honors went to Stratford junior Schmitt on offense, Mayveille junior Jamey Kamrath, who became the 14th player in school history to intercept three passes in a game, on defense and Denmark sophomore Tim Rabas on specialty teams. Soccer After earning their seventh WIAC championship in eight years by outscoring three opponents, 10-0, here last weekend, the Pointers will try to gain national honors starting Saturday. Coach Sheila Miech's outfit will take a 17-3 record and No. 20 national ranking into the NCAA Division 3 Midwest Regional at Macalester College in St. Paul, (Minn.). It will be the sixth regional appearance for UW-SP, which blanked La Crosse, 1-0, in overtime in the WIAC championship showdown at the Pointer Soccer Bowl. The Pointers are seeded No. 2 in the six-team field and are scheduled to take on the winner of a first round match between sixth-seeded Edgewood College of Madison (15-2-2) and third-seeded University of Chicago (12-2-4) at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The championship match is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m. UW-SP already has beaten No. 1 seed Macalester (4-1) and Edgewood (6-0) but dropped a 2-0 verdict to Chicago. The Pointers' overall post-season record the past seven seasons is 2-5. Stevens Point (SPASH) junior forward Marie Muhvic earned player of the week honors after scoring six of her teams 10 goals in the three WIAC tournament games, including the game-winner 13 minutes into overtime in the 1-0 win over La Crosse. Cross Country The Pointer men's and women's teams take a break this weekend after placing third in the WIAC Championships at the Wisconsin River Country Club last weekend. UW-SP junior Jesse Drake (Rhinelander) led the Pointer men by capturing WIAC individual honors, touring the 8,000-meter golf course in 24:25. La Crosse easily captured the men's title with a point total of 30. Whitewater edged the Pointers for runner-up honors, 62-68. Two other Pointer men cracked the top 10 with Ryan Wenos eighth in 25:07 and Dan Schwamberger ninth in 25:20.45. Also scoring were Shane Suehring, 25th in 25:42.21 and Mike Peck, 28th in 24:44.40. In the women's race, Oshkosh won its 14th straight title by edging La Crosse, 36-41. The Pointers were a strong third with 86. La Crosse's Jennifer Fiedler won individual honors, touring the 5,000-meter outlay in 17:46.90. Junior Leah Juno led the Pointers with a fifth place finish in 18:02.15. Freshman Becky Lebak was seventh in 18:17.93. Also scoring were Lisa Pisca, 17th in 19:02.93; Jenny Krenz, 27th in 19:23.84; and Marcie Fisher, 38th in 10:31.65. Drake and Lebak, a Burlington native who has the best finish of any first-year runner, earned Pointer runners of the week honors. Hockey Hoping to rebound after absorbing an 8-2 defeat at St. Norbert College last Saturday in its Northern Collegiate Hockey Association opener, the Pointers will take on Eau Claire (0-0, 2-0) in a home-and-home league series this weekend. The Pointers, who whipped the Green Knights in a non-conference outing Friday, 5-3, will host the Blugolds at the Willett Ice Arena on Friday at 7:05 p.m. before traveling to Eau Claire on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. rematch at the Hobbs Ice Arena. Both games will be broadcast by WWSP, 99.9-FM. The Pointers lead the series with Eau Claire, 41-20-3, and have won eight straight over the Blugolds. Pointer junior forward Marco Capizzano is off to a solid start, scoring three points in the St. Norbert series on two assists and a goal. Player of the week honors went to junior forward Mike Slobodnik who scored the first two Pointer goals of the season in the win over St. Norbert. Swimming The Pointer men's and women's teams opened their seasons in impressive fashion last weekend by routing perennial WIAC power Eau Claire at the Health Enhancement Center pool. The men, winning 22 of 28 events, submerged the Blugolds, 170.5 points to 71.5. The women's team also won easily, 152-91. The Eau Claire women have won 19 of the last 20 WIAC championships. The Pointer men were led by veteran standouts Jeremy Francioli, Randy Boelk and Nick Hanson, each of whom won two events and ran legs on winning relay teams. Becca Uphoff and Christine Sammons each won two events for the women's team and also swam legs on a winning relay team. UW-SP swimmer of the week honors went to junior Boelk, who set a pool record of 1:56.02 in the 200-yard medley while also winning the 200 butterfly in 1:57.97, and senior Uphoff, who won the 200 free in 2:01.01 and the 200 back in 2:17.33. Volleyball The Pointers saw their season end Tuesday at the hands of UW-River Falls. UW-SP (14-23 overall), the eighth seed, fell to the top-seeded Falcons 15-5, 15-7, 15-11 in the WIAC Tournament. In the first round, the Pointers swept UW-Superior 15-6, 15-3, 15-6. Sarah Kuhl had team-highs with four kills and eight digs in UW-SP's loss to the Falcons. Erin Carney had 16 assists and seven digs, while Lucia Mack and Lucy Fischer each had seven digs. The Pointers captured fifth place honors in the UW-Oshkosh Invitational Saturday by defeating Concordia College of Mequon, 11-15, 16-14, 15-3, 15-7. After losing a pair of matches on Friday to state opponents Marian and Lakeland Colleges, the Pointers came back to beat Alma (Mich.) earlier on Saturday, 15-7, 17-15, 9-15, 15-8. Player of the week honors went to junior outside hitter Mack, who led the Pointers in hitting percentage, digs and serve receiving in a loss to La Crosse and the four matches at Oshkosh. Men's Basketball The public will get its first chance to observe the Pointers on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at the annual Purple vs. Gold intrasquad game at 7 p.m. at Quandt Fieldhouse. Fans attending the contest are asked to bring non-perishable food items which will be donated to Operation Bootstrap. Donation boxes will be set up in the fieldhouse lobby.