Concordia Wisconsin 4, Yellowjackets 2

MEQUON, Wis. (October 28, 2017) - Friday night at Lake Forest the Yellowjacket special teams, a 33.3% power play and perfect penalty kill, were a bright spot in an otherwise tough game. Typically, winning the special teams battle means a victory in the game as well, but that was not the case Friday. Saturday afternoon special teams were the difference, but unfortunately for the Yellowjackets not in a good way.

Concordia Wisconsin scored three of its four goals on special teams, on the way to a 4-2 win over the Yellowjackets at the Ozaukee Ice Center in Mequon, Wisconsin. The loss sent the Yellowjackets (0-2-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) home from the season-opening road trip with nothing in the win column leading into the home opener next weekend.

Early in the game Stefen Seel got behind the Yellowjacket defense and got his stick slashed out of his hand, resulting in a penalty shot. On the free play, Seel skated in deliberately, faked to the forehand and went to the backhand, lifting a shot over the blocker of Yellowjacket starter Kyle Miller (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead. Later in the period the Falcons increased their lead when Connor Hogg converted a pass from behind the Yellowjacket goal into a power play marker at 16:46, making it a 2-0 game after one period.

Concordia took a penalty at the buzzer to end the first period, and the Yellowjackets made quick work of the power play to get on the board. After winning the opening faceoff of the second period, Daniel Litchke (Superior, Wis./Superior) got the puck in the right circle and put a shot through the legs of Concordia goaltender Nick Malvin just 10 seconds into the middle frame, making it 2-1. Brune Birzitis and Aidan Salerno (Long Beach, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) assisted on the Litchke's first goal of the year.

The Falcons regained the two-goal lead late in the second period when Seel scored his second goal of the game, working his way into the Yellowjacket zone and scoring from the right circle on the rush, making it 3-1 with 1:27 to play in the period.

With 7.6 seconds left in the period Concordia was called for icing, and the Yellowjackets were able to make them pay for committing the infraction. After winning the offensive zone faceoff, Ian Ecklund (Twig, Minn./Proctor) got the puck between the circles and bullied his way to the goal, getting it across the goal line with less than a second to play in the period, making it a 3-2 game through 40 minutes.

Concordia closed out the scoring at 5:52 of the third period when Taylor Gauld scored a power play goal, to make the final score 4-2.

Miller was a busy man in net for the Yellowjackets Saturday, finishing the contest with 43 saves. At the other end, Malvin turned aside 27 Yellowjacket shots.

The Yellowjackets went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Falcons were 2-for-6 in addition to the goal scored on the penalty shot.

Up Next: the Yellowjackets will make their 2017-18 home debut Friday, November 3 when they host Augsburg College at Wessman Arena. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.