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University of Wisconsin-Superior Athletics

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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Tanner Dion
Scott Thomson

Men's Hockey

Yellowjackets survive Stout rally, win 6-4

Tanner Dion
Box Score

Yellowjackets 6, Stout 4
Box Score

On Saturday night at Wessman Arena, the Yellowjacket men's hockey team showed yet another sign of their maturity over last season.  Leading 4-1 after two periods, the Yellowjackets coughed up the lead in just over 12 minutes of the third, only to regain the advantage and survive a late UW-Stout rally en rout to a 6-4 win.

The victory salvages a weekend split with the Blue Devils and allows the Yellowjackets to keep pace with the leaders in the conference.  They currently sit three points behind NCHA-leader UW-Eau Claire, and one point behind second place St. Norbert.

For the sixth time this season the Yellowjackets got on the board first.  Joey Massingham (Duncan, British Columbia/Cowichan Secondary) took a shot from the high slot that was stopped, but he followed the play and picked up the rebound for his fourth goal of the year to make it 1-0.  Kyle Leahy (Fort St. John, British Columbia/North Peace Secondary) and Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) assisted.  UW-Stout tied it at 13:54 when Jake Useldinger tipped a shot from the right point past Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Westgate CV&I) to make it 1-1.  The Yellowjackets regained the lead in the final minute of the first when Brett Meyers (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) picked up a loose puck in the left circle off a faceoff, drove to the front of the net and slid a backhand underneath Stout goaltender Tom Lescovich and it was 2-1 after one period.

The Yellowjackets struck on the power play to stretch the lead to 3-1.  After Stout iced the puck, Strandberg played the puck ahead to Brett Wold (Westlock, Alberta/R.F. Staples) who, from the right circle, fed Tanner Dion (Hardisty, Alberta/Central Sedgewick) driving to the net and Dion one-timed a shot past Lescovich for his second goal of the season.  Later in the second, Dion slid a pass up to Wold at the right point, who found Dalbec all alone in front of the goal, and his backhand beat Lescovich on the stick side to make it a 4-1 Yellowjacket lead.

Stout answered the bell in a big way in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals to knot the game.  Tate Rusk scored on the power play, banking a bad-angle shot in off Strandberg from the left side to make it 4-2 at 4:41.  Kevin O'Donnell scored a few minutes later at 7:36 to pull the Blue Devils to within a goal. The comeback was completed at 12:15 when a loose puck found Zach Vierling down low, and he beat Strandberg to tie the game at 4-4.

The tie was short-lived, however, as less than a minute later the Yellowjackets took the lead for good.  Brad Phenow (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) drove down the left wing and eventually had a wrap-around attempt that was stopped by Lescovich.  The rebound was lying to the right of the goal and Cody Hotchkin (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) skated in and buried it into the empty net for his first of the year, making it 5-4 with 6:57 to play.  Dion would add his second goal of the game, an empty-netter, at 19:23 to ice the victory for the Yellowjackets.

It was a big offensive night for Dion, who finished with a pair of goals and an assist on the night.  Dalbec had a goal and an assist and Wold two assists.

Strandberg got the win for the Yellowjackets, making 17 saves to improve to 4-1-0 on the year.  Lescovich took the loss, falling to 1-3-0.  He finished with 24 saves.

The Yellowjackets took six penalties for 12 minutes and were 1-for-3 on the power play.  Stout took just three penalties for six minutes, after taking 13 penalties in Friday's series opener.  The Blue Devils were 1-for-6 with the man advantage.

The Yellowjackets (6-2-0, 4-2-0 NCHA) have a quick turn around, as they will be at home on Wednesday, November 21, playing host to Concordia College.  Game time from Wessman Arena is 5:05 p.m. and can be heard live on 91.3 FM KUWS, beginning with the pre-game show at 4:45 p.m.  If you are outside the local listening area you can tune in on the web through the iFan Sports Network.  A pay-per-view video stream of the game is available through UW-Superior's online partner, AmericaOne.  Jon Garver will be on the call.
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