Yellowjackets skate past UW-Stevens Point, win three staright

Alison Shrift

Box Score

Yellowjackets 3, UW-Stevens Point 1
Box Score

SUPERIOR, Wis.—The first period turned out to be all Yellowjackets in every aspect of the game. Both teams traded shots to get things started before the Yellowjackets went on to produce four unanswered shots on net. The Yellowjackets and Pointers exchanged penalties during the first ten minutes and both teams came up empty. However, the Yellowjackets capitalized on a tripping call on UW-Stevens Point's Hannah Smith later in the period. Kerry Mayhew (Littleton,Colo./Heritage) took a pass off the boards from Alison Shrift (Traverse City, Mich./West High School) and found Kaiti Graham (Middleville, Mich./Thornapple Kellogg) all alone at the point. She skated in and fired a wrist shot that fooled UW-Stevens Point goaltender Janna Beike-Skoug, beating her high on the glove side to put the Yellowjackets ahead 1-0. The power play goal at 17:03 of the first period was Graham's fourth goal of the season. The Yellowjackets outshot the Pointers 11-6 in the first period while going 1-2 on the power play. UW-Stevens Point failed to capitalize on their only power play chance.

Adversity was the main headline of the second period for the Yellowjackets. A tripping penalty called on the Yellowjackets' Ashley Birdsall (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East) at 2:56 and a hooking penalty 1:12 later on Shrift gave the Pointers a five-on-three power play. The Yellowjackets overcame the adversity, as they dodged the bullet and killed both penalties. The Pointers, however, also gained some momentum from the power play and were finally able to break through when Michelle Lunneborg skated down the side all alone and took a shot that was stopped by the Yellowjacket's Shanley Peters (Gnadenthal, Manitoba/Garden Valley Collegiate). Lunneborg took the rebound off her own shot and put the puck past Peters to tie the game at a goal apiece. The even-strength goal came at 13:56 of the second period. UW-Stevens Point outshot the Yellowjackets 8-6 to close out the period.

The third period turned out to be a lot like the first period for the sole reason that it was all about the Yellowjackets. The bright spot in the period for the Pointers is that they killed two power play opportunities by the Yellowjackets. The third power play opportunity of the period turned out to be a charm when Shrift buried the puck home in a traffic jam of Pointers to put the Yellowjackets back up on top 2-1. The second power play goal of the night came at 8:59 of the third period. The bounces kept going the Yellowjackets' way until UW-Stevens Point put on an extra attacker with 1:56 left in the contest. However, Dani Schultz (Morris, Minn./Morris Area) sealed the victory with an empty net goal at 19:39 of the period. The goal was Schultz's team-leading 15th goal of the season. Shots were 11-6 in favor of the Yellowjackets.

Peters made 19 saves on 20 shot for the Yellowjackets. Janna Bielke-Skoug came up with 25 saves on 28 shots for UW-Stevens Point.

The Yellowjackets will look to build on tonight's victory and gain a series sweep tomorrow (Jan. 28) in game two against UW-Stevens Point. Game time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and can be viewed via webcast at www.ifan.tv.

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