Forsythe's late goal gives Yellowjackets another tie

Cody Hotckin celebrates

Box Score

Yellowjackets 2, Stevens Point 2
Box Score

The Yellowjacket men's hockey team is rolling. Sort of. Coming off of a six-game winless streak, they now find themselves smack-dab in the middle of an unbeaten streak. Strange, considering they've only won once in that stretch. On Saturday night they needed a last-minute tally to draw even with Stevens Point, and they skated to yet another tie, this time 2-2 at Wessman Arena.

In the five games since their last defeat, the Yellowjackets are 1-0-4.

They are nearing school records for ties in a season (eight in 2007-08) as well as overtime games in a season (ten in 2007-08). They currently have six ties and eight overtime games on the year.

But this one wasn't easy.

The Yellowjackets, sporting limited-edition camouflage jerseys for Military Appreciation Night, must have missed reveille, as they came out flat and fell behind early. Johnny Meo put the Pointers up 1-0 with an unassisted goal at 5:20 of the first period, capitalizing on his third attempt from the right circle, beating Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Westgate CV&I) high on the glove side. It went to 2-0 late in the period when Kyle Heck converted a perfect centering pass on a 2-on-1, scoring shorthanded with 1:21 to play. The goal was the 16th of the year for Heck, now the leader in the NCHA.

From there, Strandberg and the Yellowjacket defense grew stout and didn't allow much. Unfortunately, they weren't generating much, either.

A five-minute power play early in the second period proved futile, and through two periods they were being outshot 24-12 and were 0-5 with the man-advantage. All of that would change in the third period.

On their sixth power play of the game, Andy Singerhouse (Hudson, Wis./Hill-Murray) had the puck behind the net and played it to the left of the goal. Cody Hotchkin (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) was there and he slid it underneath Pointer goaltender Brandon Jaeger to make it a 2-1 game at 4:38 of the third. It was Hotchkin's fourth goal of the year.

From there the Yellowjackets again fell into a lull and were at times flat, despite holding an advantage in shots on goal in the final frame. Their best scoring chance late came when Jeff Forsythe (Campbell River, British Columbia/Timberline Secondary) got a puck between the circles and wired a wrist shot that went off the crossbar and deflected out of play, keeping the score at 2-1.

As time was winding down, the Yellowjackets pulled Strandberg for an extra attacker. Following an offensive zone face-off, Derek Stauber (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School) got the puck at the right point and dished to Forsythe at the left, and his wrist shot beat a screened Jaeger to tie the game with just 27.1 seconds left in regulation.

In the overtime, the Yellowjackets had the best opportunity to end it when Josh Kesler (Naperville, Ill./Northville) centered a pass from the right wing and Kyle Leahy (Fort St. John, British Columbia/North Peace Secondary) one-timed a slap shot from between the circles, but Jaeger got it with his right shoulder, keeping the score tied at 2-2.

A rough, physical game at times, there were a lot of penalties for two-and-a-half periods before things settled down. The Yellowjackets took 11 penalties for 22 minutes, while Stevens Point took 12 for 35 minutes. The Yellowjackets went 1-6 on the power play and the Pointers were 0-4.

Strandberg finished the game with 17 saves, while Jaeger made 20 stops for the Pointers.

The Yellowjackets (9-8-6, 4-6-6 NCHA) will hit the road to close out the NCHA regular season. On Friday, February 10 they will be at the Hobbs Ice Center in Eau Claire to take on the Blugolds. Game time is 7:05 p.m. and can be heard live on 91.3 FM KUWS beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. You can listen online at www.ifan.tv. Jon Garver will have the call.

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Forsythe's late goal gives Yellowjackets another tie