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Wisconsin-Superior
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Pat Dalbec
Jed Carlson-Superior Telegram

Men's Hockey

Yellowjackets pick up hard-earned point at Stevens Point

Pat Dalbec had a goal and two assists in Friday's tie at Stevens Point.
Box Score

Yellowjackets 4, Stevens Point 4 (OT)

Friday night the Yellowjacket men's hockey team got its first glimpse of UW-Stevens Point. The Pointers, who entered the game ranked third in the nation have the country's most prolific offense, averaging more than five goals a game. In other words, arguably the strongest test of the 2013-14 season awaited the squad upon its arrival at K.B. Willett Arena.

The Pointers were impressive, but the Yellowjackets were equally so. In fact it was the visiting team that had a pair of one-goal leads in the third period, but power play goals from the Pointers erased them both and the teams skated to a 4-4 tie in front of a near-capacity crowd.

The tie sets up what should be a hot-blooded rematch between the teams on Saturday night.

Stevens Point came out firing, outshooting the Yellowjackets 16-11 in the opening period and grabbing the first lead of the night. Scott Henegar drove the Yellowjacket goal and poked home a rebound to give the Pointers a 1-0 edge at 14:15 of the first period.

Kyle Brodie made it a 2-0 game when he poked a loose puck past Yellowjacket Connor Faupel (Rochester, Minn./Century) and quickly fired a shot over the right shoulder of Dayn Belfour (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate) just 43 seconds into the second period.

The Yellowjackets cut the deficit in half at 2:44 of the middle frame when Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) carried the puck behind the Pointer goal and then passed back against the grain, finding a wide open Michael Rey (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Garden City Collegiate) to the left of the net and he slid home his seventh of the year and it was 2-1.

Later in the period penalties got the best of both teams. With the Yellowjackets down a man, Owen Stauber (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) was knocked to the ice with a big check, resulting in a five-minute penalty on the Pointers' Lawrence Cornellier. Unfortunately Stauber retaliated and was also called for a penalty, so the Yellowjackets had to wait two minutes to get their power play.

It was worth the wait, when right as the power play commenced Rey centered a pass to Dalbec and his shot beat Pointer goaltender Spencer Viele to knot the game at 2-2. Dalbec's seventh of the season came at 10:54 of the second.

In the final minute of the period the Yellowjackets took their first lead of the game. Rey and Dalbec worked the puck down low and then moved it up to the point to Jeff Forsythe (Campbell River, British Columbia/Timberline Secondary) who let a blast go that caught the glove of Viele, but he couldn't squeeze it closed. The puck popped straight up in the air and came down in the back of the net for Forsythe's third of the season with just 37.7 seconds left in the period, sending the Yellowjackets to the locker room with a 3-2 edge.

With 8:50 gone in the third period Cody Hotchkin (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) received a five-minute boarding penalty, and three seconds into the power play the Pointers tied the game when Kyle Sharkey flipped a shot over Belfour's shoulder to tie things up at 3-3.

Less than a minute later, the Yellowjackets scored shorthanded to regain the advantage. Tanner Dion (Hardisty, Alberta/Central Sedgewick) moved the puck up the right wing boards and into the neutral zone and Joey Massingham (Duncan, British Columbia/Cowichan Secondary) was gone on the breakaway. Coming in from the right side Massingham's shot beat Viele low on the stick side at 9:45 to put the Yellowjackets back up at 4-3. Alec Doig (New Prague, Minn./New Prague) picked up his first point of the season with an assist on the play.

But the Pointers would again come back and tie it. Before the power play was completed Kevin Gibson sent a shot past Belfour to knot the game again, 4-4.

The Yellowjackets received a power play with just over three minutes to play in regulation, but 29 seconds in were called for a penalty of their own. Both teams had chances during the four-on-four, but neither converted sending the game to overtime.

Both teams had two shots on goal in the extra session, but Belfour came up big for the Yellowjackets and Viele did the same for the Pointers, especially in the final minute, to ensure that both teams came away with a point.

Belfour was solid for the Yellowajckets, finishing the game with 32 saves to bump his record to 2-5-1 on the season. The four goals scored marked the second-biggest offensive game the Yellowjackets have had in a game started by Belfour. The Yellowjackets had been shut out in the two previous starts made by Belfour. At the other end Viele made 25 saves in just his third start of the season. He is now 2-0-1.

On the power play the Yellowjackets went 1-for-4, while the Pointers were 2-for-8, converting both of their power play goals during the five-minute power play. The Yellowjackets took eight penalties for 19 minutes while the Pointers took four penalties for 11 minutes.

The Yellowjackets (6-9-3, 1-2-2 WIAC) and the Pointers will close out their weekend series on Saturday night. Game time from K.B. Willett Arena is scheduled for 7:00 and can be heard live on 91.3 FM KUWS beginning with the pre-game show that will start immediately following the tape-delay broadcast of Yellowjacket women's basketball. If you are outside the local listening area you can tune in online through the iFan Sports Network or the KUWS web site. Jon Garver will have the call.
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