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University of Wisconsin-Superior Athletics

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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Ian Ecklund
Jade Jensen

Men's Hockey

Yellowjackets Polish Off Spartans

Ian Ecklund scored twice and had a three-point game in Saturday's victory.
Box Score

Yellowjackets 6, Aurora 3

Things were hopping on this Saturday at the corner of North 28th Street and Catlin Avenue in Superior. After a 1:00 start, the Yellowjacket women's hockey team blew Augsburg off the ice, winning 8-2 and completing a weekend sweep of the Auggies. An hour later, the second home playoff game of the season for the Superior High School football team kicked off, and the Spartans routed Ashwaubenon to advance to the next round of the WIAA post-season. The only thing standing between Superior and a perfect day at the southernmost intersection of campus was a Saturday night tilt between the men's hockey team and Aurora University.

The two teams met Friday, with the Yellowjackets cruising to a 6-2 win. It wasn't as easy on Saturday, but the result was everything the home town crowd wanted.

For the second night in a row the Yellowjackets scored four times in the second period, and for the second night in a row they put six on the board, completing the sweep of Aurora with a 6-3 win Saturday.

Like Friday, the Yellowjackets came out flying in the first period, outshooting the Spartans 21-3. A pair of power plays in the opening stanza produced six of those shots, but when the buzzer sounded the game was still scoreless.

It stayed that way until the Yellowjackets finally drew first blood at the 6:07 mark of the second. Cal Miska (Stacy, Minn./Centennial) took a shot from the left side that was stopped, but fellow freshman Brandon Anderson (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech) was there to scoop up the rebound and score his first goal as a Yellowjacket to give Superior a 1-0 lead.

Aurora came back and tied the game at the 9:59 mark. Following an extended 5-on-3 power play, Aurora held tight in Yellowjacket territory and a three-way passing play found Trevor Hoth on the right post, and he redirected a pass into the goal for his first of the season.

That's when things went crazy. After going over 25 minutes without a goal, the teams combined to score four goals in a span of 2:36.

The first came when Owen Stauber (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) held the offensive zone at the left point and let a slap shot go that was deflected out front by Ian Ecklund (Twig, Minn./Proctor) to give the Yellowjackets a 2-1 lead. Just 29 seconds later that line struck again as Ecklund carried down the left wing and centered to a streaking Tanner Dion (Hardisty, Alberta/Central Sedgewick) who tipped teh perfect pass past Aurora goaltender Griffin Strain, and suddenly the Yellowjackets had a two-goal edge, 3-1.

Aurora called a timeout, and when play resumed they quickly cut into the lead.

Off the ensuing faceoff a long shot from center went off the end boards behind the Yellowjacket net. The carom came to the left of the goal and appeared to go off the skate of Yellowjacket goaltender Bryce Fink (Tacoma, Wash./Keystone) and into the goal to once again make it a one-goal game. The goal, credited to Nick Desimone, came at 14:08 of the second.

Less than two minutes later the Yellowjackets regained the two-goal cushion, and again the offense was supplied by a familiar source. Dion came into Aurora territory on the right wing and fed a perfect pass to Ecklund who was driving the net. The freshman went from forehand to backhand and lifted a shot over Strain, scoring his second of the game. The eventual game winner came at 15:56 and staked the Yellowjackets to a 4-2 advantage.

The Yellowjackets increased the lead to 5-2 at 6:38 of the third period when Jordan Shockley (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School) got the puck in the high slot and slid a pass to Thomas Paine (Superior, Wis./Marshall School) in the right circle. Paine one-timed a shot past Strain for his first of the year. At 10:27 Jake Johnson (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie) scored his second of the year, receiving a pass after an Aurora turnover in the right circle and beating Strain to make the game 6-2.

Aurora closed out the scoring at 14:45 of the period when Rihards Marenis used a nifty stickhandling move to evade a defender and wired a shot over Fink's right shoulder to make the game 6-3.

Despite the big shot advantage in the first, the Yellowjackets didn't badly outshoot Aurora, finishing the game with a 45-33 edge. Fink earned his first collegiate win, stopping 30 shots. At the other end Strain finished with 39 stops.

Saturday's contest was chippier than Friday's. The Yellowjackets finished the game with 11 penalties for 22 minutes, while Aurora took 10 for 20 minutes. Both teams were scoreless on the power play, the Yellowjackets in five tries and the Spartans in six.

The Yellowjackets (2-0-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) are back in action Thursday, November 6 when they travel to St. Cloud, Minnesota to take on St. John's. Game time from the National Hockey Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The game can be heard live locally on 91.3 FM in Superior, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. Jon Garver will have the call.
 
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Players Mentioned

Tanner Dion

#12 Tanner Dion

F
6' 1"
Senior
Tom Paine

#19 Tom Paine

F
6' 0"
Senior
Jordan Shockley

#17 Jordan Shockley

F
5' 8"
Sophomore
Owen Stauber

#22 Owen Stauber

D
6' 0"
Sophomore
Bryce Fink

#1 Bryce Fink

G
5' 8"
Freshman
Brandon Anderson

#23 Brandon Anderson

F
6' 4"
Freshman
Cal Miska

#28 Cal Miska

F
6' 1"
Freshman
Ian Ecklund

#4 Ian Ecklund

F
6' 3"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Tanner Dion

#12 Tanner Dion

6' 1"
Senior
F
Tom Paine

#19 Tom Paine

6' 0"
Senior
F
Jordan Shockley

#17 Jordan Shockley

5' 8"
Sophomore
F
Owen Stauber

#22 Owen Stauber

6' 0"
Sophomore
D
Bryce Fink

#1 Bryce Fink

5' 8"
Freshman
G
Brandon Anderson

#23 Brandon Anderson

6' 4"
Freshman
F
Cal Miska

#28 Cal Miska

6' 1"
Freshman
F
Ian Ecklund

#4 Ian Ecklund

6' 3"
Freshman
F