Offense comes alive in rout of Northland

Jeff Forsythe scored twice and had an assist in Tuesday's 8-2 win over Northland.

Box Score

Yellowjackets 8, Northland 2

When teams are struggling to score goals, they always hope for that one night where they trounce an opponent, and players who are struggling can get on the sheet and "get healthy," to put it in sports vernacular. The hope is that, with players "getting healthy," the tide turns, scoring issues dissolve and success is easier to come by.

It's no secret that the 2013-14 Yellowjackets have been struggling to score. With only eight goals through their first four games, they perfectly fit the bill of a team that needed to get healthy.

Let's hope that Tuesday's game begins a run of good health and success for the Yellowjacket men's hockey team. Six different players scored as the Yellowjackets scored eight goals in a game for the first time in nearly four seasons, burying Northland College 8-2 on Tuesday night at Wessman Arena.

The Yellowjackets, who have now won two straight after dropping three in a row to start the season, had 13 different players pick up at least one point on the night, as they doubled their scoring output for the entire season in just 60 minutes of play.

It was all Yellowjackets in the first period, as they dominated play, outshooting Northland 15-4 in the frame and holding a decisive territorial advantage. And for the third time in five starts, they got on the scoreboard before the game was six minutes old. Michael Rey (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Garden City Collegiate) had the puck in the left circle, delayed to draw a defender to him and then fed a perfect pass over to the right circle where a waiting Jeff Forsythe (Campbell River, British Columbia/Timberline Secondary) ripped a one-timer past Lumberjack goaltender Mason Riley to stake the Yellowjackets to a 1-0 lead 5:58 into the game.

The lead went to 2-0 at 13:28 of the period when Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) controlled the puck on the right wing boards in the Northland zone and found Jordan Neduzak (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate Institute) between the circles. The freshman knew what to do when he got the puck, firing a shot past Riley on the stick side for his second of the year.

Just 30 seconds into the middle frame Northland got on the board, taking advantage of some shoddy Yellowjacket defense. Mike Lennon took the shot that beat Dayn Belfour (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate) to cut the lead to 2-1. Minutes later the Yellowjackets answered, however, when Cody Hotchkin (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) sprung Rey on the breakaway and his wrister beat Riley on the stick side at 7:26 of the second to regain the two-goal lead for the Yellowjackets.

On the play where Rey scored the Yellowjackets also were put on the power play, but it was Northland that took advantage. And again it was Lennon who took advantage, putting one past Belfour on the stick side to again cut the lead to one at 3-2.

That was as close as the Lumberjacks would get, as the Yellowjackets blew the game wide open, scoring three times in a span of 6:27 before the second period ended.

David Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) started the parade, notching his first collegiate goal with a wrist shot from the blue line that never left the ice but beat Riley on the stick side at 12:05 to push the lead back to two goals at 4-2. It went to 5-2 at 16:52. Forsythe, just beyond his own goal line, sent Joey Massingham (Duncan, British Columbia/Cowichan Secondary) in alone on a breakaway and he beat Riley stick side, scoring his first of the year. Then at 18:32, James Hughes (Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial) found Nick Stoskopf (Warroad, Minn./Warroad) from the right corner, and after a piece of crafty stickhandling got him around a defender, Stoskopf went to the backhand to beat Riley and push the edge to 6-2 after two periods.

Like the first period, the Yellowjackets dominated play in the third period, with a 19-4 shot advantage and added two more to the goal ledger. At 9:42 Rey took a perfect centering pass from Massingham and went to the backhand, beating Riley for his second of the game.

Minutes later Cody Hasbargen checked Marc Fortin (Pottageville, Ontario/King City Secondary) from behind, giving the Yellowjackets a five minute power play. In the closing seconds of the advantage, Forsythe scored his second of the night, putting a wrist shot past Riley on the stick side at 15:03. Andy Singerhouse (Hudson, Wis./Hill-Murray) and Wes Judnick (Virginia, Minn./Virginia) assisted on the goal that made the final score 8-2.

Rey and Forsythe each finished the game with two goals and an assist, while Massingham had a goal and two assists and Hotchkin had three assists to pace the Yellowjackets.

Belfour picked up his first win as a Yellowjacket, improving to 1-1-0 on the year with a 13 save performance. At the other end, Riley was busy most of the night, turning aside 35 shots in the losing effort.

For the game, the Yellowjackets went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Lumberjacks went 0-for-3. The Yellowjackets took three penalties for six minutes, while Northland took four penalties for 19 minutes.

The Yellowjackets (2-3-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) will remain at home and host Marian University at Wessman Arena on Friday, November 22. Game time is scheduled for 7:05 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 to the free online audio feed through the iFan Sports Network or Wisconsin Public Radio. Technical issues that doomed Tuesday's video stream should also be resolved by that time, so you will be able to watch the game via UW-Superior's online content provider, AmericaOne. Jon Garver will have the call.

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Offense comes alive in rout of Northland