Eau Claire strikes quick to down Yellowjackets

Andy Singerhouse notched his first goal of the season on Saturday at Eau Claire.

Box Score

Eau Claire 6, Yellowjackets 2

Typically in 2013-14, when the Yellowjacket men's hockey team scored the first goal of the game or held a lead after one period, they were in pretty good shape when the final horn sounded. On Saturday night the Yellowjackets got both, but in the end it didn't matter as the defending national champions proved to be too much.

Eau Claire struck for quick goals in both the second and third periods and turned a once close game into a rout, defeating the Yellowjackets 6-2 on senior night at the Hobbs Ice Center in Eau Claire.

The win was also the 100th in the head coaching career of Eau Claire bench boss Matt Loen.

It was the Yellowjackets who drew first blood, however. At 7:29 of the first period, Andy Singerhouse (Hudson, Wis./Hill-Murray), who has endured a season-long slump during his senior year, wired a wrist shot from the top of the left circle past Eau Claire goaltender Tyler Green to give the Yellowjackets the 1-0 lead.

The game stayed that way until early in the second period. With Derek Stauber (Duluth, Minn./Marshall School) off for holding Niko Kapetanovic poked home a rebound to tie the game at 1-1.

Later in the second period the Yellowjackets had a brief 5-on-3 power play but they were unable to capitalize. Once the penalties expired Tanner Dion (Hardisty, Alberta/Central Sedgewick) took an Eau Claire player down. During the delayed penalty call Chris Heineman picked up a loose puck in the right circle and blasted a shot high into the net to make it a 2-1 game at 10:45 of the second period. On the ensuing power play, Ross Andersen outmuscled the Yellowjacket defense at the right post and pushed the puck home just 40 seconds later and it was 3-1 Blugolds.

The Yellowjackets answered with a power play goal of their own early in the third period. Eric Shand (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas) took a shot from the right circle that was stopped, but Pat Dalbec (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) was there to put the rebound home for his team-leading tenth goal of the season and suddenly it was a one-goal game at 3-2.

Once again Eau Claire had an answer, however. Joe Krause found a loose puck and scored from the slot to push the lead back to two goals, 4-2, at 8:21 of the third. Just 53 seconds later Brian Nehring was left alone at the top of the Yellowjacket goal crease and he flipped a puck over Drew Strandberg (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Westgate CV&I) to make it a 5-2 game.

The Blugolds closed out the scoring with a nice passing play down low that found Adam Knockenmus alone out front and he scored at 13:38 to make the final score 6-2.

Both goaltenders saw a lot of rubber in the game. Strandberg finished the game with 49 saves on 55 shots. His record fell to 4-7-2 on the year. At the other end Tyler Green earned his 11th win of the year, finishing with 42 saves.

Eau Claire went 2-for-5 on the power play while the Yellowjackets were 1-for-5. The Yellowjackets took six penalties in the game for 15 minutes, while the Blugolds took seven for 14 minutes.

The Yellowjackets (7-13-3, 2-6-2 WIAC) will now have a weekend off before they return to action to close out the regular season. They will play their final road game of the season on Friday, February 21 when they travel to Menomonie, Wis. to take on UW-Stout. Game time from Dunn County Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and can be heard live on 91.3 FM KUWS beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15. 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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