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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Michael Rey

Men's Hockey

Third period explosion gives Yellowjackets the win

Michael Rey goes to the backhand, scoring his third goal of the game in Tuesday's playoff win over UW-Stout.
Box Score

Yellowjackets 6, Stout 3

For a while on Tuesday night it looked like the Yellowjacket men's hockey team was going to drop their WIAC first round playoff game at Wessman Arena.

After jumping ahead to a 2-0 lead, the Yellowjackets got run out of their own building in the second period by UW-Stout. The Blue Devils scored three goals in a span of 6:16 and outshot the Yellowjackets 19-11 in the frame to take a 3-2 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes.

In the third, however, the Yellowjackets erased all doubts, exploding to score four times in the final stanza to defeat UW-Stout 6-3 and advance to the WIAC semifinals this weekend.

The offense started and ended with two players in the game - senior Michael Rey (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Garden City Collegiate) and freshman Jordan Neduzak (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate Institute) each scored three times to pace the Yellowjackets. The hat tricks marked the first time since November 21, 2008 that a Yellowjacket scored three times in a game. Back then, it was Braden Desmet against Lake Forest in his junior season.

That year was also the last time the Yellowjackets and Blue Devils met in the playoffs. Stout came out on top that time, but this time the night belonged to the Yellowjackets.

The only goal of the first period came courtesy of Rey. At the end of a penalty kill, Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) pushed a pass up the right wing boards that sprung Rey in on a breakaway, and he faked forehand before lifting a backhand over Stout goaltender Corey Koop to make it 1-0 at 4:18 of the period.

It went to 2-0 at 5:16 of the second period. This time a long stretch pass found Neduzak in the neutral zone, and he skated into Stout territory on the right wing, letting a wrist shot go from the right circle that went off the glove of Koop and into the net for his fifth of the year. Matt Audette (Thief River Falls, Minn./Lincoln) was credited with the lone assist on the goal.

After that, Stout took control of the second period. They got on the board when Kevin O'Donnell scored from the slot at 6:59 to make it 2-1. Just after the midpoint of the period they tied the game when a stretch pass found Craig Lindegard behind the Yellowjacket defense, and his shot from the left circle beat Dayn Belfour (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate) high on the stick side to even the score. Less than three minutes later Stout took the lead as a missed clearing attempt kept the pressure on the Yellowjackets. Riley Colvard was the recipient of a pass in the slot and his shot beat Belfour high and it was 3-2 at 13:15 of the period.

The Yellowjackets answered the bell early in the third period and tied the game up.

Thomas Paine (Superior, Wis./Marshall School) and James Hughes (Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial) were cycling on the forecheck and played the puck from the left boards to the front of the net. Rey came off the bench following a line change, picked up the loose puck and beat Koop down low juat 1:59 in to make it a 3-3 score.

The Yellowjackets took the lead for good at 10:34. Connor Faupel (Rochester, Minn./Century) carried into the zone on the left wing and moved the puck low to Dalbec. Dalbec's centering pass found Neduzak and he slid the puck under Koop for his second of the game to make it 4-3.

Neduzak completed his hat trick at 13:32, when he took a centering pass from Cody Hotchkin (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld), weaved around a defender and put a backhand past Koop to push the lead to two. Then with under two minutes to play Rey finished off his hat trick, splitting the Stout defensemen and going to the backhand, beating Koop for an unassisted goal at 18:17 to make the final score 6-3.

For Rey, he now has a team-leading 14 goals on the year. Meanwhile Neduzak, who snapped an 18-game goal drought on Saturday against Stevens Point, now has four goals in his last two outings.

Belfour earned his second straight win over the Blue Devils finishing the night with 35 saves. His record for the year now stands at 5-6-1. At the other end Koop was a little busier than Belfour. He finished the night wtih 36 stops.

Stout took three penalties for six minutes while the Yellowjackets took two penalties for four minutes. Both teams were scoreless on the power play - Stout in two chances and the Yellowjackets in three tries.

The Yellowjackets (9-14-3) will now advance to the WIAC semifinals, where they will play a two-game series against UW-River Falls at W.H. Hunt Arena, beginning on Friday, February 28. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and can be heard live 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. Jon Garver will have the call.
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