St. Thomas 2, UW-Superior 1
SUPERIOR, Wis. (November 24, 2017) – Superior challenged the St. Thomas Tommies with some of their best hockey of the season, but couldn't get the win in their first game after a brief Thanksgiving break. The Yellowjackets defeated the Tommies last season by the same score of 2-1.
The first three minutes flowed without a whistle, as both teams traded shots on goal and body checks. The 'Jackets would get a power-play opportunity midway through the first period; Andrew Durham (Plano, Texas/Plano East) was able to capitalize on the short-handed Tommies, getting his first of the season, assisted by Daniel Litchke (Superior, Wis./Superior) and Ian Ecklund (Twig, Minn./Proctor). The 'Jackets took a 1-0 lead at the 11:10 mark. Superior would continue to attack to the end of the period, holding the lead into the first intermission.
The Tommies would come out shooting in the second period, getting four shots off in the first three minutes. They would eventually found twin at 5:19, as Derek Olmschenk scored, assisted by Tanner Bames and Tanner Ahlgren.
The Yellowjackets found another power-play chance at 11:16 when a Tommie was called for hooking, but couldn't find the net after two Tommie clearouts. The Tommies would then find their own power-play, but also couldn't capitalize in two of the final four minutes. Durham would get another chance on a deflected puck gave him a breakaway, but the Tommie goldtender made the save.
St. Thomas would be on the attack once again, firing five shots in the opening two. The flow seemed to come to a halt, as there were close to 10 whistles in the opening three minutes. The Tommies found net at 16:22 to take a one-goal lead, disrupting the flow even more. The period would continue with no Yellowjacket luck, coach Rich McKenna called a timeout with 2:14 remaining and pulled goalie Cole Skinner (Lunenberg, N.S./Parkview Education Centre) thereafter, but Superior lost in the final minutes, 2-1.
Superior outshot the Tommies by nine in the contest, as Skinner made 22 saves on the night. Penalties would get in the way for the Yellowjackets, getting one more than St. Thomas, yet the Yellowjackets were a perfect 5-of-5 on the penalty kill.
The 'Jackets will play the second of a back-to-back tomorrow night, Nov. 25, against rival St. Scholastica at 7:05 p.m. in Wessman Arena.
