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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Jeff Forsythe
Jed Carlson-Superior Telegram

Men's Hockey

Pointers explode in second, rout Yellowjackets

Jeff Forsythe scored for the second night in a row against UW-Stevens Point on Saturday.
Box Score

Stevens Point 8, Yellowjackets 3

Entering the weekend the Yellowjacket men's hockey team was aware that Stevens Point was the top offensive team in the country, averaging just over five goals per game and creating offense in ways unseen in the west region for the better part of a decade.

On Saturday night the Pointers gave the Yellowjackets a first-hand view of just how potent they are offensively. UW-Stevens Point exploded in the second period, scoring three times in a span of 7:10 to blow the game open and use that momentum to cruise to an 8-3 win over the Yellowjackets at K.B. Willett Arena in Stevens Point.

The Pointers opened the scoring late in the first period when Nick D'Avolio snapped a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Yellowjacket goaltender Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Westgate CV&I) up high on the glove side to make it 1-0. D'Avolio's eighth of the year came at 16:13.

Saturday's game followed the same pattern as Friday, with the Pointers adding to the lead early in the second. Drew Graves fired a shot from the right left circle that got past Strandberg to open up a 2-0 lead for the Pointers at 3:19 of the second. The Pointers stretched the lead to 3-0 just 2:23 later when Alex Kromm took a shot from the left wing that Strandberg stopped, but Scott Henegar crashed the net and buried the rebound for his tenth of the year. D'Avolio followed with his second of the game at 10:29 of the second, beating Strandberg to push the lead to 4-0.

The fourth goal spelled the end of the night for Strandberg, who stopped 15-of-19 shots faced before yielding the net to freshman Zach Thompson (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld).

The goaltending change had a positve effect on the Yellowjackets who broke the shutout at 12:58 of the middle period. Pointer defenseman Sean Gammage fell down in the neutral zone and lost the puck, giving Michael Rey (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Garden City Collegiate) a breakaway and he faked to the backhand then went back to the forehand to slip home his eighth goal of the year and cut the lead to 3-1.

Moments later the Yellowjackets struck again. Cody Hotchkin (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) and Marc Fortin (Pottageville, Ontario/King City Secondary) worked the puck in the offensive zone and centered to Jeff Forsythe (Campbell River, British Columbia/Timberline Secondary), and Forsythe's wrist shot beat Pointer goaltender Brandon Jaeger high on the glove side to make it 4-2 at 14:07.

Stevens Point came roaring right back and quickly regained the three-goal lead. Joe Kalisz forechecked in the offensive zone and kept the play alive in the right wing corner before dishing the puck to Kyle Sharkey who worked his way through the Yellowjacket defense and beat Thompson from the right circle to push the lead to 5-2. Sharkey's goal came at 15:38.

To their credit, however, the Yellowjackets were not going to go away quietly. Just 31 seconds after the Pointers scored the Yellowjackets again cut the lead to two. Matt Audette (Thief River Falls, Minn./Lincoln) took a shot from the blue line that went wide, but the carome off the end board eventually found Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) out front and he buried his eighth goal of the season at 16:09. Dalbec's goal, which was also assisted by Rey, closed out the scoring in the wild second period and the teams went to the break with the Pointers up 5-3.

Early in the third period the Pointers gave the Yellowjackets a golden opportunity to draw closer, taking two penalties, but the Yellowjackets couldn't take advantage of the two-man power play and the Pointers killed it off.

Just 17 seconds after the penalties were killed off the Pointers added their sixth goal of the night with Sharkey scoring his second of the game. Then, at 11:30 of the third D'Avolio finished off the hat trick, scoring his third of the night with another blistering wrist shot from the right circle that beat Thompson high to make it 7-3. Stevens Point closed out the scoring with a pretty passing play in the final minute that was finished off by Garrett Ladd for his 14th of the year, making the final scoring 8-3.

The Yellowjackets took five penalties for 10 minutes while the Pointers took six for 12 minutes. On the power play the Yellowjackets went 0-for-5 while the Pointers were 1-for-4.

Strandberg was tagged with the loss in the game and now falls to 4-5-2 on the year. Thompson, in relief of Strandberg, allowed four goals on 11 shots faced. At the other end, Jaeger earned the win after making 34 saves.

The Yellowjackets (6-10-3, 1-3-2 WIAC) return home for a weekend series against UW-River Falls. Game time on Friday, January 31 is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Wessman Arena. The game 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 or the KUWS web site. You can also watch the game live via pay-per-view through UW-Superior's official online content provider, AmericaOne Sports. Jon Garver will have the call.
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