UWS Men Win a Pair

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The 2014-15 campaign has been a season of extremes for the Yellowjacket men’s hockey team. During an opening weekend sweep of Aurora, the Yellowjackets had no issues with offense, putting 12 goals on the board. In the next four games, they managed just four goals, and not surprisingly they came up short in all of those contests.

Friday at Northland College, the Yellowjackets were not only looking to rediscover the offense, but also put a halt to that four-game losing skid. They were able to do both, but they made things a lot tougher on themselves than the needed to.

Three unanswered goals in the second period, including a pair from Tanner Dion (Hardisty, Alberta/Central Sedgewick), and strong netminding from Cory Simons (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) helped the Yellowjackets survive a late Northland rally and earn a 4-3 win at the Bay Area Civic Center in Ashland, Wisconsin.

The Yellowjackets opened the scoring at 7:18 of the first period on the power play. Owen Stauber (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) fired a shot from the blue line that beat Lumberjack goaltender Tyler Ampe high on the glove side for his first of the year. Connor Faupel (Rochester, Minn./Century) and Ian Ecklund (Twig, Minn./Proctor) had the assists.

Northland came back and tied a few minutes later then Matt Lennon tipped a shot from the point past Simons to knot the game at 1-1.

It stayed that way until the second period when the Yellowjackets again capitalized on the power play. Cody Hotchkin (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) fed a pass to Wes Judnick (Virginia, Minn./Virginia) at the right point and his shot was tipped home by Dion to give the Yellowjackets a 2-1 edge. The goal was Dion’s fourth of the season. At the 14:01 mark of the second the Yellowjackets increased the lead. Jordan Neduzak (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate Institute) carried down the right wing, eluded a defender and sent a pass to James Hughes (Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial) in the slot. Hughes’ shot was stopped, but Neduzak followed the play and poked the rebound in for his first of the year to give the Yellowjackets a two-goal lead. Just 37 seconds later the Yellowjackets tallied again, and for the second time in the game it was Dion. The senior forward worked his way to the front of the net and slid a rebound into the open net to make the score 4-1.

The fourth goal spelled the end of the night for Ampe, who was relieved by Jesse DiLillo. Unfortunately, it was also the end of the scoring for the Yellowjackets. Northland, meanwhile, was awakened by goaltending switch.

In the third period the Lumberjacks cut the lead in half when Michael Berens was unguarded at the left of the goal and batted a rebound out of the air to make it a 4-2 game. That goal came at 6:40. Then, with 2:47 left in the third the Lumberjacks pulled to within one. The Yellowjackets, who seemed careless with the puck for much of the game, failed to clear the defensive zone and Darius Cole made them pay, wristing a shot low past Simons and suddenly it was 4-3.

Northland continued to press, and nearly tied the game with 11 seconds left, but Simons came up with a big save. Following a Northland timeout, the Lumberjacks won the faceoff in Yellowjacket territory and put a shot on goal, but once again Simons was there to make the save. The final second ticked off the clock with the puck tied up in the right wing corner, and the Yellowjackets surviving to get the win.

Simons earned his first collegiate win and improved to 1-1-0 on the year. He finished the night with 30 saves. The Yellowjackets were outshot 33-29 in the game. At the other end, Ampe and DiLillo combined for 25 stops.

The Yellowjackets went 2-of-4 on the power play and were a perfect 4-of-4 on the penalty kill. Each team took four penalties for eight minutes in the game.

After nearly letting Friday’s win slip from its grasp, the Yellowjacket men’s hockey team employed a workman-like effort on Saturday in an attempt to capture its second sweep of the young season. Four goals in the second period didn’t hurt either.

For the third time this season the Yellowjackets scored four times in the middle frame and cruised to the win, 4-1 over Finlandia at Wessman Arena Saturday.

The second period has been the strongest of the year for the Yellowjackets, as they have scored 19 of their 24 goals thus far in the middle stanza.

Following a scoreless first period the Yellowjackets drew first blood early in the second. Sophomore Anton Svensson (Soldertalje, Sweden/Igelstavikens Gymnasium), recovered from an injury and making his season debut, took a centering pass from Jake Johnson (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) and found himself in alone on Finlandia goaltender Andrew Brownlee. Svensson had the puck on his backhand, moved it to his forehand and slid it underneath Brownlee to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead at 3:08 of the period. The goal, in addition to being Svensson’s first was also the first shorthanded goal of the season for the Yellowjackets.

At 9:35 the lead went to 2-0 when Tom Paine (Superior, Wis./Marshall School) found Johnson in front, and the freshman made no mistake, burying his fifth of the season on the power play. The lead bulged to 3-0 at 13:39 when Connor Faupel (Rochester, Minn./Century) fired from the right point and had the shot tipped home by Tanner Dion (Hardisty, Alberta/Central Sedgewick). The goal was the fifth of the year for the senior co-captain. Then, before the period ended, Svensson had the puck to the left of the goal and fed a perfect pass across the goal mouth to a wide open Jordan Shockley (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School), and he tapped his second of the year into the open net at 18:57 to stretch the lead to 4-0. Ian Ecklund (Twig, Minn./Proctor) also earned an assist on the play.

In the third period Finlandia applied pressure early and broke the shutout bid at 5:25 of the frame when Thomas Malkmus sent a wrist shot over the glove of Yellowjacket goaltender Cory Simons (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) to make it a 4-1 game.

From there the Yellowjackets ran out the clock, keeping the puck in Finlandia territory and methodically forechecking to keep the visitors at bay.

Svensson and Johnson paced the Yellowjacket offense, each finishing the game with a goal and an assist.

Simons, making his second consecutive start, picked up the win to improve to 2-1-0 on the year. He finished the game with 27 saves. At the other end, Brownlee and Jordan Marr combined to stop 43 Yellowjacket shots.

The Yellowjackets (4-4-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) have a quick turnaround, as they are back in action Wednesday, November 26 when Northland College comes to Wessman Arena for a rematch of Friday’s game. Game time on Thanksgiving Eve is set for 7:05 p.m. and can be heard live locally on 91.3 FM in Superior. If you are outside the local listening area you can tune in online through the iFan Sports Network. Jon Garver will have the call.