Men's Varsity Falls to Wisc. Stevens Point in NCAA Quarterfinal

Despite a rather valiant effort, the Men’s Varsity team fell to the Wisconsin Stevens Point Pointers in the NCAA Quarterfinals on March 19th at Arrington Ice Arena.

The Bulldogs got on the board first at the 3:42 mark of the first period while on the powerplay, Taylor McCloy sent home his 5th powerplay goal of the season and 12th overall. The lone assist on McCloy’s goal would go to Michael Hoy. The Pointers would tie the game two minutes later on a powerplay of their own at the 5:46 mark of the first period. However, the Bulldogs would once again go on a powerplay at the 18:58 mark of the first when the Pointers were called for hooking. Taylor McCloy would once again give the Bulldogs the lead with his second goal of the night. Cory Dunn and Kyle Brothers would grab assists on McCloy’s second goal. After one, the Bulldogs were outscoring the Pointers by a score of 2-1.

The Pointers would tie the game with 4:36 gone in the second after Cory Dunn was sent to the box for tripping. The Bulldogs would receive three powerplay opportunities, however, would not capitalize on any in the middle frame. The Pointers would gain their first lead of the night with only 11 second remaining in the period. After two, the Bulldogs would trail the Pointers by a score of 2-3.

The final frame would be a back and forth game and the Bulldogs were unable to tie the game up so they pulled goaltender Kevin Entmaa with less than a minute and a half remaining. The Pointers would tally two empty net goals in the final minute to secure their victory and spot in the Frozen Four. With only a second remaining, a scrum conveniently near the penalty boxes would ensue and result in a whopping 50 penalty minutes being assessed to the Bulldogs and 24 minutes assessed to the Pointers. Final score would be 5-2 in favor of the visiting Pointers.

The Men’s Varsity team posted a 24-4-2 record this season and tallied an astounding 156 goals in 29 games this season. Freshman goaltender Kevin Entmaa became the first Bulldog goaltender to go undefeated in the regular season while playing in more than 10 contests. Entmaa would also be the last undefeated goaltender in the entire NCAA, both in Division I and III.

***Carly’s 3 Stars of the Game***

*1: Taylor McCloy: McCloy scored both Bulldog goals in the game and came extremely close to netting his first collegiate hat trick several times throughout the the game, most notably in the first period when he rang a shot off of the crossbar and then robbed glove side during the second.

**2: Kevin Entmaa: Entmaa played out of his mind for the Bulldogs and saved a few goals on mulitple occassions. Entmaa was the final goaltender in all of the NCAA to be undefeated this season and is the only Bulldog goalie to be undefeated in the regular season.

***3: Addison Krug: Perhaps the most exciting thing to happen this season for the Bulldogs was the birth of Coach Adam Krug's little daughter. Congrats to Coach Adam, his wonderful wife Lindsay, and little Carter on their new addition to their family!