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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Josh Kesler
Scott Thomson

Men's Hockey

Third period goals lead Yellowjackets past Saints

Josh Kesler
Box Score

Yellowjackets 4, St. Scholastica 3
Box Score

The adage in sports goes something along the line of, "It's not how you start, but how you finish."  For the Yellowjacket men's hockey team on Thursday that, that adage held true.

St. Scholastica got on the board first in the final regular season meeting between the two teams as NCHA opponents, but it was the Yellowjackets who finished with a flourish, riding two third period Josh Kesler (Naperville, Ill./Northville) goals to a 4-3 win at Mars-Lakeview Arena.

Kesler scored twice in just over five minutes to give the Yellowjackets a two-goal lead, and Ryan Pinoniemi (Delano, Minn./Delano) and the penalty killing unit made the offensive output stand up despite a furious rally in the waning minutes by the Saints.

The victory also put a halt to the Yellowjackets' five-game losing skid and put them in sole position of third place in the NCHA standings with a handful of games to play in the regular season.  The Yellowjackets will be off on Friday, January 25 while the other six teams in the conference are in action.

St. Scholastica opened the scoring at 8:21 of the first period when Brett Corcoran banged home the rebound of an Alex Valenti shot to make it 1-0.  Less than a minute later, however, the Yellowjackets tied it up.  Saint goaltender Tyler Bruggeman was behind the goal trying to play the puck and Joey Massingham (Duncan, British Columbia/Cowichan Secondary) stripped him of the puck on the forecheck then beat Bruggeman to the front of the goal, scoring his ninth of the season at 9:12 to even the score at 1-1.  Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) picked up an assist on the play.

The Yellowjackets stretched the lead to 2-1 a few minutes later.  Following the expiration of a Yellowjacket power play, Michael Rey (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Garden City Collegiate) entered the zone on the right side and let a shot go from the right circle that eluded Bruggeman on the stick side.  It was the first goal of the season for Rey, who joined the team at the semester break.  Andy Singerhouse (Hudson, Wis./Hill-Murray) assisted.

After a scoreless second period the Saints wasted little time tying the score, and again it was the same trio doing the damage.  Valenti took a pass behind the net from Tyler Miller and centered to Corcoran who one-timed a shot from the slot past Pinoniemi to tie the game at 2-2 just 2:05 into the third.

Later in the period the Yellowjackets regained the lead, thanks to an error by the Saints.  On the attack, the Saints moved the puck to the defense, but the errant pass split the defense and sent Kesler in on the breakaway, and the senior made no mistake, firing a shot over Bruggeman's glove for his third of the season to make it 3-2 at 9:03.

A few minutes later Kesler struck again to make it a two-goal game.  Rey fed Kesler a pass in the right circle, and the senior winger used deft stickhandling to move from his right to his left and flip the backhand past a sprawled Bruggeman to make it 4-2 with 5:46 to play in regulation.

Things got pretty interesting, however, just 30 seconds later.  A scrum in front of the Saints' bench resulted in St. Scholastica's Paul Marcoux getting a minor for roughing and the Yellowjackets' Wes Judnick (Virginia, Minn./Virginia) getting a five-minute major for facemasking.  The teams played four-on-four for two minutes before the Saints embarked on a three-minute power play.

When they hit the power play St. Scholastica didn't take long to convert, as Dave Williams scored from the left of the goal, beating Pinoniemi up high to make it a one-goal game at 4-3.

Seconds later Ryan Hill (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) was called for slashing, putting the Yellowjackets two players down with just 1:49 to play.  The Saints pulled Bruggeman, essentially giving them a six-on-three advantage, but the Yellowjacket penalty kill was masterful, blocking shots and keeping the Saints on the perimeter.

The Yellowjackets got one player back, but the power play continued.  A shot in the closing seconds was kicked aside by Pinoniemi and the Yellowjackets gained the much-needed win.

Pinoniemi made 27 saves to earn his second win of the season.  At the other end, Bruggeman made 29 saves in the losing effort.

The Yellowjackets took four penalties for 11 minutes, while the Saints took three for six minutes.  The Yellowjackets went 0-for-2 on the power play while the Saints were 1-for-5.

The Yellowjackets (11-8-1, 6-6-1 NCHA) have a day off and then return to action on Saturday, January 26 when they travel to Dunn County Arena in Menomonie, Wis. to take on UW-Stout.  Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and can be heard live on 91.3 FM KUWS beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15 p.m.  If you are outside the local listening area tune on the web at www.ifan.tv.  Jon Garver will be on the call.
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