EAU CLAIRE, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire hockey team rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period and went on to a 6-3 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Friday night.
Lawrence (3-7-1) led 3-1 early in the third period before Eau Claire (7-7-0) scored three times in a span of 1:16 to take the lead for good. The Blugolds added a pair of goals in the final 4:27 to seal the victory.
The Vikings scored twice late in the first period to take the lead. Eau Claire led 1-0 when Matt Jacobs scored on the power play off passes from Josh DeSmit and Masa Takahasi to tie the game at the 15:31 mark. With only 43 seconds left in the first period, Billy Siers scored on Lawrence's only other power-play chance of the evening to put the Vikings up 2-1.
After a scoreless second period, Nick Jennette, who had assisted on Siers' goal, scored 2:50 into the third period to give Lawrence a 3-1 edge. DeSmit and Marc Howe both picked up their second assists of the evening on Jennette's goal.
Eau Claire then got goals from Andrew Johnson, Ben Bosworth, and Nate Smith at 3:40, 4:43, and 4:56 to quickly turn the 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
Sean Garrity gave the Blugolds some breathing room when he scored unassisted at 15:33, and Sam Bauler added an empty-net goal at 19:28 to finish the scoring.
Lawrence goaltender Jim Ryan saw his scoreless streak end at 123:46 and took the loss for Lawrence. He faced 50 Eau Claire shots. Tyler Brigl made 14 saves to pick up the win for Eau Claire.
Lawrence travels to St. Mary's University for a nonconference game on Saturday.