2006-07 WIAC Men's Ice Hockey
Athletes of the Week

Week of Feb. 5 - 11
Chris Berry, Freshman (Calgary, Alberta), Forward of UW-Superior
Berry helped UW-Superior to a pair of wins over league-rival St. Scholastica (Minn.) during the weekend by scoring three goals.  In a 4-1 triumph on Friday, he scored the first goal of the game at 4:12 of the first period.   In a 5-2 victory on Saturday, his power play goal at 16:17 of the second period gave the Yellowjackets a 3-1 lead.  He added another goal at the 1:18 mark of the third period in the win over the Saints.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, A.J. Bucchino, Junior, Goalie, Bow, N.H. (Des Moines-USHL)
UW-Stevens Point, Ross Johnson, Sophomore, Forward, International Falls, Minn. (Falls)

Week of Jan. 29 - Feb. 4
Andy Wiesner, Senior (Rochester, Minn./Marshall, Chicago-NAHL), Forward of UW-Stout
Wiesner scored the eventual game-winning goal in a 4-1 win over St. Scholastica (Minn.) on Feb. 2, and added an assist on UW-Stout’s third goal of the game.  In a 4-2 loss at UW-Superior on Feb. 3, he assisted on the Blue Devils’ first goal of the game, a power play goal only a minute after the Yellowjackets had taken a 1-0 lead.

Also nominated:
UW-Stevens Point, Pat Lee, Freshman, Forward, Schaumburg, Ill. (Springfield Blues-NAHL)

Week of Jan. 22 - 28
Mike Stone, Junior (West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley, Minneapolis-MNJHL), Goalie of UW-Stout
Stone kept UW-Stout's conference records, both in the NCHA and the WIAC, unblemished during the weekend with two road wins, allowing only one goal in each game as UW-Stout (18-1-2 overall, 9-0-1 NCHA, 5-0-0 WIAC) defeated Lake Forest (Ill.), 4-1, on Jan. 26, then beat perennial power and No. 4-ranked St. Norbert, 2-1, on Jan. 27 to stay in first place.  Against St. Norbert, Stone turned away 32 shots, including a flurry of 18 shots in the second period and 10 shots in the third period to give the Blue Devils their 11th straight win and their 13th game without a loss.  Stone had 24 saves in the win over Lake Forest.  On the weekend, Stone posted a .966 save percentage by stopping 56-of-58 shots.  On the season, Stone has a 12-1-1 overall record, with a 1.81 goals against average and 331 saves for a save percentage of .935.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, Derek Hansberry, Sophomore, Forward, Arvada, Col.
UW-Superior, Corey Lennartson, Senior, Forward, Esko, Minn.

Week of Jan. 15 - 21
A.J. Bucchino, Junior (Bow, N.H./Des Moines-USHL), Goalie of UW-River Falls
Bucchino led the Falcons to two wins during the weekend and picked up his first shutout of the season.  The Falcons beat UW-Stevens Point, 3-0, on Jan. 19 and UW-Eau Claire, 4-1, on Jan. 20.  He stopped 24 shots in the win over the Pointers to earn his third career shutout.  Against the Blugolds, Bucchino stopped 32 shots to improve his record to 16-2-1 on the season.

Also nominated:
UW-Stout, Mike Stone, Junior, Goalie, West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley (Minneapolis-MNJHL)

Week of Jan. 8 - 14
A.J. Bucchino, Junior (Bow, N.H./Des Moines-USHL), Goalie of UW-River Falls
Bucchino helped UW-River Falls to road victories at St. Thomas (Minn.) and St. Mary’s (Minn.) during the week.   He stopped 36-of-37 shots in a 2-1 triumph over the Tommies and came back the next night to make 39 saves on 41 shots in a 5-2 win over the Cardinals.  Bucchino currently has a 14-2-1 record with a 2.27 goals against average and a .929 save percentage on the season.

Also nominated:
UW-Stout, Jake Erickson, Junior, Forward, Rochester, Minn./Century (Wichita Falls-NAHL)

Week of Jan. 1 - 7
Andrew Johnson, Sophomore (Andover, Minn./Anoka), Forward of UW-Eau Claire
Johnson scored seven points, including two power play goals and one short-handed goal as the Blugolds defeated Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) 9-0 and St. John’s (Minn.) 3-1.  Against the Cobbers, Johnson assisted on the game’s first goal, scored just 57 seconds into the game, to give the Blugolds an early 1-0 lead.  Johnson would go on to score four goals with two coming off the power play, one at even strength and one short-handed.  The four goals tied a school record last accomplished by Cam Cook against UW-Stout on Oct. 25, 1997.  The nine goals scored by the Blugolds were the most since a 9-0 victory over Milwaukee School of Engineering on Nov. 29, 2003.  In a 3-1 win over the Johnnies, Johnson assisted on the game’s first goal at 11:00 of the first period and the game-winning goal at 11:12 of the second period on a power play.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, Pat Borgestad, Junior, Forward, St. Paul, Minn. (Des Moines/USHL)
UW-Stout, Scott Motz, Freshman, Forward, Lake Elmo, Minn. (Tartan) (Minnesota Blizzard)

Week of Dec. 4 - 10
Andy Wiesner, Senior (Rochester, Minn./Marshall, Chicago-NAHL), Forward of UW-Stout
Wiesner scored the game-winning goal in overtime in a 3-2 victory over No. 5-ranked UW-Superior, then turned around the next night and assisted on the game-winning goal in a 5-4 victory over St. Scholastica (Minn.).  Wiesner, who finished the weekend with two goals and two assists, assisted on the goal that tied the game, 2-2, against the Yellowjackets, and scored a short-handed goal in the third period to pull UW-Stout within 4-3 against the Saints.  He currently leads the Blue Devils in scoring with seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points.

Also nominated:
UW-Stevens Point, Rolf Ulvin, Senior, Forward, Edina, Minn. (Michigan Tech-WCHA)
UW-Superior, Braden Desmet, Freshman, Forward, Strathmore, Alberta

Week of Nov. 27 - Dec. 3
Jim Henkemeyer, Junior (St. Cloud, Minn./Bismarck-NAHL), Defenseman of UW-River Falls
Henkemeyer led UW-River Falls to a 3-1 victory over Lake Forest (Ill.) and 3-2 triumph over No. 1-ranked St. Norbert during the weekend.  Against the Green Knights, he recorded two goals – the first came 3:54 into the game, while the second was 16:18 into the third period and proved to be the game-winning goal.   Henkemeyer was credited with one assist against the Foresters on the team’s first goal.  UW-River Falls has won nine straight games.

Also nominated:
UW-Stevens Point, Sean Fish, Sophomore, Forward, Ramsey, Minn. (Anoka/Minnesota-NAHL)
UW-Stout, Scott Motz, Freshman, Forward, Lake Elmo, Minn. (Tartan/Minnesota Blizzard)
UW-Superior, Chad Beiswenger, Sophomore, Goalie, Moorhead, Minn.

Week of Nov. 20 - 26
Chris Berry, Freshman (Calgary, Alberta), Forward of UW-Superior
Berry helped UW-Superior to a pair of road victories during the week, including a 9-4 triumph over Bethel (Minn.) and a 3-2 win over Augsburg (Minn.).  Against Bethel, he scored two goals and added one assist.  His first goal tied the game at 2-2 in the second period.   Against Augsburg, Berry had two second-period goals as the Yellowjackets jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on for the win.

Also nominated:
UW-Stevens Point, Matt Stendahl, Sophomore, Forward, Forest Lake, Minn. (Springfield Blues-NAHL)
UW-Stout, Adam Boche, Senior, Defenseman, South St. Paul, Minn. (St. Paul Lakers-MMJHL)

Week of Nov. 13 - 19
Andy Wiesner, Senior (Rochester, Minn./Marshall, Chicago-NAHL), Forward of UW-Stout
Wiesner scored the game-winning goal with a wicked backhand, unassisted shot with five minutes left in the game to lift UW-Stout to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over UW-Eau Claire on Nov. 18.  In a 6-2 win over UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 17, Wiesner added two assists, including a pass early in the game for UW-Stout's first goal to tie the game.  Wiesner also had an assist midway through the second period on a power play goal.  UW-Stout is currently riding the longest unbeaten streak in school history (6-0-1) and is ranked 13th in last week's USCHO.com poll.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, Derek Hansberry, Sophomore, Forward, Arvada, Col. (Wichita Falls-NAHL)
UW-Stevens Point, Sean Fish, Sophomore, Forward, Ramsey, Minn. (Minnesota-NAHL)

Week of Nov. 6 - 12
Sean Garrity, Junior (North St. Paul, Minn.), Left Wing of UW-Eau Claire
Garrity recorded the first Blugold hat trick in nearly three years in helping UW-Eau Claire defeat Bethel (Minn.) and Hamline (Minn.) during the weekend and improve to 4-1 on the season.  Down 4-1 against Hamline, Garrity scored the game’s final three goals to give the Blugolds a 5-4 come-from-behind victory.  Garrity’s first goal came off the power play at 11:00 of the second period to cut the Piper lead to 4-3.  It took little time for Garrity to strike again, this time scoring an even strength goal at 13:39 of the second period to tie the game at 4-4.  Garrity would complete the hat trick early in the third period scoring again off the power play at 1:52 for the game-winning goal.  It is the first Blugold hat trick since Rob Ouimette and Steve Dus both accomplished the feat against the Milwaukee School of Engineering on November 29, 2003.  The previous night against Bethel, Garrity assisted on the Blugolds’ final goal to secure the 4-1 victory over the Royals.  At 4-1, the Blugolds have already doubled their win total from all of last season.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, T.J. Dahl, Junior, Forward, Burnsville, Minn. (Des Moines-USHL)
UW-Stevens Point, Russel Law, Sophomore, Forward, Bay City, Mich. (Shattuck, Minn./No. Michigan-NOJHL)
UW-Stout, Derek Hanson, Freshman, Forward, Bemidji, Minn. (Danville)

Week of Oct. 30 - Nov. 5
Andrew Stearns, Senior (Wadena, Minn.), Forward of UW-Stout
Stearns produced the game-tying goal and added three assists in a dramatic come-from-behind 6-6 tie with Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) on Nov. 4.  Trailing 6-3 with two minutes left in the game, Stearns came to life, willing the Blue Devils into the overtime period.  On the power play, Stearns fed Cory Mozak the puck to pull UW-Stout to within 6-4.  With 26 seconds left in the game, Stearns passed to Luke Schroeder who passed to Andy Wiesner, who scored.  Again on the power play only 20 seconds later, Stearns scored unassisted to send the game into the overtime period.  Stearns had his first assist on the evening in the first period, again on the power play, passing to Paul Henderson to put the Blue Devils on the board.  UW-Stout improved to 2-0-1 on the season with the draw against the Gusties.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Ben Hendrick, Sophomore, Center, Andover, Minn. (Anoka)
UW-River Falls, Dustin Norman, Sophomore, Forward, South Delta, British Columbia (Neepawa-MJHL)
UW-Stevens Point, Dan Francis, Senior, Forward, Roseville, Mich. (Findlay-CHA)

Week of Oct. 23 - 29
Ryan Mensing, Sophomore (Langley, British Columbia/Walnut Grove SS), Goalie of UW-Eau Claire
Mensing was a big part of the Blugolds’ 3-2 upset win at No. 11-ranked UW-River Falls on Oct. 27.  In a game that the Blugolds never trailed, he stopped 42 of 44 shots in his first-ever game for the team.  The two goals registered by the Falcons were power play efforts.  The victory snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Falcons and was also the first win for UW-Eau Claire at Hunt Arena since Jan. 11, 1997.

Also nominated:
UW-River Falls, T.J. Dahl, Junior, Forward, Burnsville, Minn. (Des Moines-USHL)
UW-Stout, Cory Mozak, Sophomore, Forward, Sioux City, Iowa (Helena-NAHL)

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