Cobbers hold on, edge Yellowjackets

Eric Shand scored the first goal of the game for the Yellowjackets against Concordia on Saturday.

Box Score

Concordia 3, Yellowjackets 2

Wessman Arena has been a tough place to play over the years. Most of the time that has been true for the opposition, but more recently it has been the Yellowjackets who have struggled to find the win column on home ice.

The trend continued on Saturday, despite another fast start to the game and a solid effort across three periods. A goal midway through the third period gave Concordia the winning margin, as they held on to beat the Yellowjackets 3-2.

On Friday night the scoring started just 4:11 into the contest. Saturday was even faster, as the Yellowjackets got on the board at 2:26. Derek Stauber (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School) held the zone and the left point and circled around the Concordia net, finding freshman Eric Shand (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas) in the right circle and he blasted home his first collegiate goal to give make it 1-0.

The score stayed that way, despite the fact the Yellowjackets had three power plays in the first period and four more in the second, compared to just one for Concordia. The Cobbers, meanwhile kept plugging away and finally tied the game early in the second period. Jeremy Johnson picked up his first goal of the season, putting a puck past Yellowjacket goaltender Dayn Belfour (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate) at 2:33 of the second period to even the game at 1-1.

Concordia took its first lead of the game at 10:20 of the middle frame. Dan Hrabowych was the recipient of a fortuitous bounce at the Yellowjacket blue line that sprung him the other direction on a breakaway. Belfour came out and challenged Hrabowych with the poke check and separated the Cobber from the puck, but it caromed right to Caleb Suderman who scored into a wide open goal, giving the Cobbers a 2-1 edge.

The Yellowjackets finally were able to break through on the power play, tying the game before the end of the second. Stauber had the puck at the left point and put a shot in toward the goal the Jordan Neduzak (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate Institute) deflected out front, beating Concordia goaltender Chris Neomonitis with 2:41 to play in the period, evening the score at 2-2.

In the third the Cobbers took the lead for good at 7:25. Jordan Christianson came down the right wing and from a wide angle wired a shot high over Belfour's shoulder for his fourth goal of the season to push the Cobbers back ahead at 3-2.

With time ticking away the Yellowjackets nearly tied the score, but Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) was stymied from point-blank range as Neomonitis kicked the right leg out and kept it a one-goal game. In the final minutes the Yellowjackets applied pressure, but weren't able to get the equalizer.

Neomonitis got the win, improving to 3-1 on the year, kicking aside 37 shots. Belfour took the loss in his first outing of the season for the Yellowjackets, finishing with 16 saves.

Concordia took 10 penalties in the game for 20 minutes, while the Yellowjackets were penalized just four times for eight minutes. The Yellowjackets were 1-for-8 on the power play, while going a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

The Yellowjackets (0-2-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) will hit the road for the first time this season on Friday, November 15 when they travel to Winona, Minn. to take on Saint Mary's University. Game time from the SMU Ice Arena 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. Jon Garver will have the call.

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