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Wisconsin-Superior
Yellowjackets
Daniel Litchke
Jade Jensen

Men's Hockey

Johnnies Clip Yellowjackets

Daniel Litchke scored his third of the season Saturday vs. Saint John's.
Box Score

Saint John's 3, Yellowjackets 2

Talk about a rollercoaster ride.

The start to 2016 has been filled with an array of twists and turns for the Yellowjacket men's hockey team, and they've only played three games so far. Tuesday saw the team put a long winless skid to bed, then Friday featured an uninspired loss to Concordia. Then Saturday against Saint John's the Yellowjackets started each period slowly before slowing ramping up their play, only the clock ran out before they could put the finishing touches on a come back.

Saint John's scored twice early in the first period and early in the second, then held on to earn a 3-2 win Saturday afternoon at Wessman Arena.

The Johnnies got the scoring started early in the first period, netting the game's first goal just 1:40 in. A Yellowjacket turnover in the neutral zone allowed the Johnnies to play the puck to the right corner, where Sam Valerius picked it up and worked his way out front. There he waited out Yellowjacket goaltender Cory Simons (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) before sliding the puck in to make it 1-0.

Another neutral zone turnover helped the Johnnies stretch the lead. After the turnover a two-on-one developed and Dan Voce took a pass in the right circle and wired a shot over Simons' glove for a 2-0 lead.

After the initial onslaught the Yellowjackets settled down and began to build a forecheck. The momentum continued to build and helped the Yellowjackets break through at 7:39 of the first. The defensive pair of Owen Stauber (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) and Nik Kosman (Calgary, Alberta/Centennial) started the play with a rush. Kosman got the puck behind the Saint John's goal and centered for Daniel Litchke (Superior, Wis./Superior), whose shot found its way through a sea of players in front and eluded Johnnie goaltender Tyler Nelson. Litchke's fourth goal of the year cut the lead in half.

Saint John's got the Litchke goal back just 27 seconds into the second when, with the teams playing four-on-four Tyler Dunagan scored from the left circle to push the lead back to two at 3-1.

As the second period unfolded the Yellowjackets, in a copy of the first period, began to build momentum. The best for them came midway through the frame when Dan Kovar (Bismarck, N.D./St. Mary's Central) rifled a shot off the goal post.

In the third the teams traded shots and opportunities but the Johnnies maintained the two-goal lead. That changed late when the Yellowjackets crawled back to within a goal. With under four minutes to play the Yellowjackets rushed the Saint John's zone and Ian Ecklund (Twig, Minn./Proctor), who had the puck in the high slot, dropped a pass to Viktor Sallhag (Vasteras, Sweden), and the freshman shot from the top of the right circle and beat Nelson high to pull the Yellowjackets to within 3-2.

In the final minute the Yellowjackets used their timeout to draw up a play with the extra attacker. They won the draw and got the looks they wanted, but the Johnnies blocked all the shot attempts to preserve the one-goal win.

Simons was making his first start since November  14 and took the loss, falling to 2-2-0 on the year. He made 30 saves in the game. At the other end Nelson earned the win with a 33-save performance.

The Yellowjackets took seven penalties for 14 minutes while the Johnnies took just three for six minutes. Both teams were scoreless on the power play, Saint John's in five chances and the Yellowjackets in one.

The Yellowjackets (4-10-2, 0-2-0 WIAC) hit the road for their final two non-conference games of the 2015-16 season next weekend. Friday, January 15 they will be in St. Peter, Minnesota to take on Gustavus Adolphus. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. and the game can be heard live 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

Ian Ecklund

#4 Ian Ecklund

F
6' 3"
Sophomore
Dan Kovar

#13 Dan Kovar

D
5' 9"
Sophomore
Cory Simons

#30 Cory Simons

G
5' 10"
Junior
Owen Stauber

#22 Owen Stauber

D
6' 0"
Junior
Nik Kosman

#6 Nik Kosman

D
5' 11"
Freshman
Daniel Litchke

#10 Daniel Litchke

F
5' 9"
Freshman
Viktor Sallhag

#21 Viktor Sallhag

F
6' 0"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ian Ecklund

#4 Ian Ecklund

6' 3"
Sophomore
F
Dan Kovar

#13 Dan Kovar

5' 9"
Sophomore
D
Cory Simons

#30 Cory Simons

5' 10"
Junior
G
Owen Stauber

#22 Owen Stauber

6' 0"
Junior
D
Nik Kosman

#6 Nik Kosman

5' 11"
Freshman
D
Daniel Litchke

#10 Daniel Litchke

5' 9"
Freshman
F
Viktor Sallhag

#21 Viktor Sallhag

6' 0"
Freshman
F