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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Tanner Dion
Jade Jensen

Men's Hockey

Dion, Simons Lead Yellowjackets Past Northland

Tanner Dion
Box Score

Yellowjackets 4, Northland 3

The 2014-15 campaign has been a season of extremes for the Yellowjacket men's hockey team. During an opening weekend sweep of Aurora, the Yellowjackets had no issues with offense, putting 12 goals on the board. In the next four games, they managed just four goals, and not surprisingly they came up short in all of those contests.

Friday at Northland College, the Yellowjackets were not only looking to rediscover the offense, but also put a halt to that four-game losing skid. They were able to do both, but they made things a lot tougher on themselves than the needed to.

Three unanswered goals in the second period, including a pair from Tanner Dion (Hardisty, Alberta/Central Sedgewick), and strong netminding from Cory Simons (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) helped the Yellowjackets survive a late Northland rally and earn a 4-3 win at the Bay Area Civic Center in Ashland, Wisconsin.

The Yellowjackets opened the scoring at 7:18 of the first period on the power play. Owen Stauber (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) fired a shot from the blue line that beat Lumberjack goaltender Tyler Ampe high on the glove side for his first of the year. Connor Faupel (Rochester, Minn./Century) and Ian Ecklund (Twig, Minn./Proctor) had the assists.

Northland came back and tied a few minutes later then Matt Lennon tipped a shot from the point past Simons to knot the game at 1-1.

It stayed that way until the second period when the Yellowjackets again capitalized on the power play. Cody Hotchkin (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) fed a pass to Wes Judnick (Virginia, Minn./Virginia) at the right point and his shot was tipped home by Dion to give the Yellowjackets a 2-1 edge. The goal was Dion's fourth of the season. At the 14:01 mark of the second the Yellowjackets increased the lead. Jordan Neduzak (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate Institute) carried down the right wing, eluded a defender and sent a pass to James Hughes (Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial) in the slot. Hughes' shot was stopped, but Neduzak followed the play and poked the rebound in for his first of the year to give the Yellowjackets a two-goal lead. Just 37 seconds later the Yellowjackets tallied again, and for the second time in the game it was Dion. The senior forward worked his way to the front of the net and slid a rebound into the open net to make the score 4-1.

The fourth goal spelled the end of the night for Ampe, who was relieved by Jesse DiLillo. Unfortunately, it was also the end of the scoring for the Yellowjackets. Northland, meanwhile, was awakened by goaltending switch.

In the third period the Lumberjacks cut the lead in half when Michael Berens was unguarded at the left of the goal and batted a rebound out of the air to make it a 4-2 game. That goal came at 6:40. Then, with 2:47 left in the third the Lumberjacks pulled to within one. The Yellowjackets, who seemed careless with the puck for much of the game, failed to clear the defensive zone and Darius Cole made them pay, wristing a shot low past Simons and suddenly it was 4-3.

Northland continued to press, and nearly tied the game with 11 seconds left, but Simons came up with a big save. Following a Northland timeout, the Lumberjacks won the faceoff in Yellowjacket territory and put a shot on goal, but once again Simons was there to make the save. The final second ticked off the clock with the puck tied up in the right wing corner, and the Yellowjackets surviving to get the win.

Simons earned his first collegiate win and improved to 1-1-0 on the year. He finished the night with 30 saves. The Yellowjackets were outshot 33-29 in the game. At the other end, Ampe and DiLillo combined for 25 stops.

The Yellowjackets went 2-of-4 on the power play and were a perfect 4-of-4 on the penalty kill. Each team took four penalties for eight minutes in the game.

The Yellowjackets (3-4-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) will look to return to the .500 mark when they host Finlandia at Wessman Arena Saturday night. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. and can be heard live on 91.3 FM in Superior, beginning with the pre-game show sometime around 6:45. If you are outside the local listening area tune into the web stream through the iFan Sports Network. Jon Garver will have the call.

Following the game Saturday is the annual "Skate with the 'Jackets." Fans of all ages can get out on the ice and skate with their favorite Yellowjacket men's and women's hockey players. The skate will begin about 10 minutes after the conclusion of the men's game. Youth hockey players who wear their game jerseys to the game will be admitted to the game free of charge.
 
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Players Mentioned

Tanner Dion

#12 Tanner Dion

F
6' 1"
Senior
Connor Faupel

#7 Connor Faupel

D
6' 1"
Sophomore
Cody Hotchkin

#20 Cody Hotchkin

F
5' 9"
Senior
Jimmy Hughes

#24 Jimmy Hughes

F
5' 8"
Sophomore
Wes Judnick

#8 Wes Judnick

D
6' 3"
Junior
Jordan Neduzak

#9 Jordan Neduzak

F
5' 11"
Sophomore
Owen Stauber

#22 Owen Stauber

D
6' 0"
Sophomore
Ian Ecklund

#4 Ian Ecklund

F
6' 3"
Freshman
Cory Simons

#30 Cory Simons

G
5' 10"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Tanner Dion

#12 Tanner Dion

6' 1"
Senior
F
Connor Faupel

#7 Connor Faupel

6' 1"
Sophomore
D
Cody Hotchkin

#20 Cody Hotchkin

5' 9"
Senior
F
Jimmy Hughes

#24 Jimmy Hughes

5' 8"
Sophomore
F
Wes Judnick

#8 Wes Judnick

6' 3"
Junior
D
Jordan Neduzak

#9 Jordan Neduzak

5' 11"
Sophomore
F
Owen Stauber

#22 Owen Stauber

6' 0"
Sophomore
D
Ian Ecklund

#4 Ian Ecklund

6' 3"
Freshman
F
Cory Simons

#30 Cory Simons

5' 10"
Sophomore
G