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University of Wisconsin-Superior Athletics

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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Brett Wold
Jed Carlson-Superior Telegram

Men's Hockey

Green Knights complete sweep of Yellowjackets

Brett Wold
Box Score

St. Norbert 3, Yellowjackets 1
Box Score

Over the last four seasons, the month of January hasn't been kind to the Yellowjacket men's hockey team.  Heading into Saturday's game with St. Norbert College, the Yellowjackets held a January record of 8-16-3 overall and 4-12-3 in NCHA play since 2009-10.  A win over the nation's No. 2 team on Saturday afternoon could have served as the perfect elixir for the Yellowjackets, and at the same time put them back on the road to success in the year's first month.

It wasn't meant to be on this night.

Although the game was more even than Friday's contest, the result, unfortuantely was the same.  St. Norbert scored a pair of power play goals, one in each the second and third periods to snap a 1-1 tie and gain the 3-1 victory at Wessman Arena on Saturday afternoon, completing the weekend sweep.

Home has been anything but a sweet place for the Yellowjackets over the last four seasons.  Since 2009-10 the Yellowjackets are a modest 23-22-7 at Wessman Arena.  The hope now is that the six-game road swing the team is about to embark on will put the Yellowjackets back on the winning track and keep them in home playoff position as the NCHA stretch run continues.

The Yellowjackets have been nearly unbeatable in 2012-13 when they score the first goal of the game, but for the second time this weekend it was St. Norbert that drew first blood.  Chris Rial drove the Yellowjacket net, and at the same time sent defenseman Chad Blanleil (Kelowna, British Columbia/Kelowna Secondary) crashing into goaltender Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Westgate CV&I), knocking him off his feet.  Sam Dougherty sent a shot from the right side toward the goal and Rial tipped it home for his fourth of the year to make it 1-0 at 5:32 of the first period.

Brett Wold (Westlock, Alberta/R.F. Staples) evened the score at 1-1 just 51 seconds into the second period.  Joey Massingham (Duncan, British Columbia/Cowichan Secondary) entered St. Norbert territory on the right wing and sent a pass toward the front of the net that was broken up.  Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) picked up the puck on the left side and centered to Wold who roofed a wrist shot over the glove of Green Knight goaltender David Jacobson to even the game. 

The goal was Wold's first career goal and snapped a Yellowjacket goal-less streak against St. Norbert at 182:03.

The tie game didn't last long as St. Norbert regained the lead at 4:34 of the middle frame.  Tyler Zepeda used his speed to gain separation from the defense and wired a shot from the right circle over the glove of Strandberg to make it 2-1.  The eventual game-winning goal was scored on the power play.

Early in the third period the Yellowjackets nearly tied the game.  Sam Prpich (Okotoks, Alberta/Holy Trinity Academy) had a great chance to the left of the goal, but his wraparound attempt got through Jacobson, cruised through the goal mouth and into the right corner.  Later, Nick Stoskopf (Warroad, Minn./Warroad) had his own chance to the left of the cage.  His shot also got through Jacobson, but also went through the goal crease and ended up in the right wing corner.

The Green Knights closed out the scoring with a power play goal at 8:57 of the third period.  Mason Baptista came out of the right corner and fired a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Strandberg high on the glove side to make it 3-1.  The insurance goal was the fourth of the year for Baptista.

The Yellowjackets had chances down the stretch, as St. Norbert gave them two power plays in the second half of the third, but they were unable to convert.  Down the stretch St. Norbert put on a clinic in the face-off circle, and as the seconds ticked away kept the puck deep in Yellowjacket territory, salting away the win.

Jacobson picked up his 12th win of the year, turning aside 24 Yellowjacket shots.  Strandberg took his third consecutive loss to fall to 8-5-1.  He finished with 19 saves.

St. Norbert took six penalties for 12 minutes and went 2-for-4 on the power play.  Meanwhile the Yellowjackets took five penalties for ten minutes and were scoreless in five man advantage opportunities.

The Yellowjackets (10-6-1, 5-4-1 NCHA) will be on the road next weekend, playing a pair of games at nationally-ranked UW-Eau Claire beginning on Friday, January 18.  Game time at the Hobbs Ice Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and can be heard live locally on 91.3 FM KUWS, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.  If you are outside the local listening area you can listen online through the iFan Sports Network.  Jon Garver will be on the call.
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