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Wisconsin-Superior
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Pat Dalbec
Jed Carlson-Superior Telegram

Men's Hockey

Dalbec paces Yellowjackets in victory

Pat Dalbec
Box Score

Yellowjackets 4, Concordia 3
Box Score

In this week of thanks, the Yellowjacket men's hockey team has to be thankful for the Superior Amateur Hockey Association.  Why?  Simple.  Because the association provided the early hockey development of the team's leading scorer, junior Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior).  The hometown product has been the catalyst of the Yellowjacket offense throughout 2012-13, and the Thanksgiving Eve tilt with Concordia College was no exception.

Dalbec scored the first two goals of the game for the Yellowjackets, who fought off a late rally by the Cobbers and picked up their second consecutive win, 4-3 at Wessman Arena.

With the two goals, Dalbec now has a team-high six goals and 13 points and has at least one point in each of the team's nine games on the year.

Dalbec opened the scoring early in the first period.  As a power play expired, Dalbec carried the puck up the left side into the Concordia zone, cut to his right and let a shot go that beat Cobber goaltender Kelly Andrew down low to make it 1-0 at 4:30.  Kyle Leahy (Fort St. John, British Columbia/North Peace Secondary) had the lone assist.  The Cobbers tied things up a few minutes later.  Derek Whitehill carried into Yellowjacket territory and centered to Danil Kalishnikov who, while moving to his right went to the backhand and slid the puck underneath Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Westgate CV&I) to knot the game at 1-1.

In the second Dalbec regained the lead for the Yellowjackets.  Brett Wold (Westlock, Alberta/R.F. Staples) and Jeff Forsythe (Campbell River, British Columbia/Timberline Secondary) passed back-and-forth at the blue line and then fed Dalbec, whose shot eluded Andrew to make it 2-1.  The power play marker came early at 2:34.  Once again, however, the Cobbers tied it.  Chris Beede took a shot from the left wing that was blocked.  The puck then caromed back to him and from near the goal line he threw it toward the front of the net, bouncing the puck off of Dalbec and past Strandberg to tie things at 2-2.  Beede's goal came at 5:49 of the second.

The Yellowjackets gained the cushion they would need to close out the game in a 32-second span of the third period.  Brad Phenow (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) sent Nick Stoskopf (Warroad, Minn./Warroad) in along on the breakaway, but Stoskopf was denied after going to the backhand.  Stoskopf kept the play alive, sending the puck up to the left point where Phenow took a shot through traffic that beat Andrew to make it a 3-2 game. 

The goal was the first for Phenow since he scored the game-winner at Stevens Point on December 3, 2010, a span of 49 games.  Tanner Dion (Hardisty, Alberta/Central Sedgewick) also assisted.

Just 32 seconds later the Yellowjackets stretched the lead to two goals when Stoskopf had his shot stopped, but Josh Kesler (Naperville, Ill./Northville) picked up the rebound and put it home for his first of the year at 6:25.  Ryan Hill (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown), returning to the lineup after missing four games with an injury, also picked up an assist on the play.

The Cobbers wouldn't go away quietly, though.  While on a 4-on-3 power play, Jordie Bancroft got the puck on the goal line to the left of the net and caught Strandberg leaning off the post, beating him high over the right shoulder to pull Concordia back to within one.

Late in the game, with 2:48 to play, Concordia took a penalty, essentially crippling their chances for a comeback.  The Yellowjackets kept the puck deep in the offensive zone, not allowing the Cobbers to pull their goaltender until there was just over ten seconds to play in regulation, sealing the win.

The Yellowjackets finished the game with six penalties for 12 minutes, while the Cobbers took eight penalties for 16 minutes.  On special teams the Yellowjackets went 1-for-7 on the power play and killed off 4-of-5 shorthanded opportunities.

Strandberg got the win, improving to 5-1-0 on the year, finishing with 15 saves.  At the other end Andrew finished with 25 stops before being relieved following the fourth goal.  Chris Neomonitis closed out the game for the Cobbers, making four saves in the final 13:35.

The Yellowjackets (7-2-0, 4-2-0 NCHA) will return to the ice on Friday, November 30 when they travel to UW-River Falls to take on the Falcons.  Game time from Hunt Arena is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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