November 15, 2011

UW-Eau Claire goaltender Brandon Stephenson (Saline, Mich. / Saline / Traverse City) has been selected Player of the Week in the NCHA Men's Conference for the week ending November 13th.  Stephenson made 59 saves on 62 shots last weekend in a series with St. Scholastica.

In a 5-1 win last Friday night, Stephenson held the Saints to just one goal on 34 shots.  The lone goal he allowed came with CSS on the power play late in the second period.

Stephenson followed that performance up with a 26-save outing in a 2-1 loss.  Both goals against were power play goals.  He made 17 saves in the third period alone, keeping his team within striking distance of St. Scholastica.

The 6-2 junior now leads the NCHA in overall goals against average (2.20) and save percentage (.919) for the 4-2-0 Blugolds.

Ryd goes for 4: St. Norbert's Johan Ryd was excellent last weekend, albeit in a 1-point series for the Green Knights at UW-River Falls.  Ryd scored twice in the third period on Friday, cutting the Falcons lead to 5-3 with a half period yet to play.  The comeback fell short as SNC lost 6-3 with an empty-netter.  The next night Ryd had two assists, none more crucial than on the game-tying goal at 17:33 of the third period.  The teams finished in a 5-5 tie.

Speaking of River Falls: The Falcons Blake Huppert played a big role in the emotional series, scoring a pair of third period goals in the 5-5 tie on Saturday night.  His second goal was the 5th in a string of comeback goals for UWRF, putting the Falcons up with 3:45 to play.  The win and tie on the weekend vaulted UW-River Falls from #12 to #5 in the latest USCHO.com rankings.

Close Calls: Of the 12 NCHA conference games thus far, six have been decided by two goals or less; three have gone to overtime.

Complete Release (pdf)