UW-Eau Claire 5, UW-Superior 2

SUPERIOR, Wis. (January 27, 2018) – On Youth Night, the Yellowjackets hosted the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds; after scoring the first goal of the night, Superior fell behind in the final two periods.

The first period moved quickly, as the teams exchanged blows. Superior was able to put the first points on the board  at 7:55 when Tanner Skaja (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech) found the rebound shot dead center in the crease, scoring his second goal of the season. Bruno Birzitis (Riga, Latvia/Riga Distance Education Secondary) and Ian Ecklund (Twig, Minn./Proctor) credited with the assists on the play.

It was a low-shooting contest through the rest of the period, as the teams combined for 10 total shots on goal.

The second period continued in much of the same way, as you could see the teams trading hits. The Blugolds scored at 7:19, on a goal credited to Nathan Digmann, assisted by Alex Strand. They added another at 19:40 to make it a 2-1 game heading into the second intermission.

It was a rough and tumble third period, as the teams did more hitting that shooting. At 5:47 of the period, a scuffle broke out in front of the Eau Claire crease, and a Yellowjacket helmet came off; one penalty was delivered to each team.

Dingmann would find the back of the net at 11:19 to make it a two score contest. The game got even more chippy in the following minutes: the Blugolds added another goal at the 12:32 mark, a scuffle ensued, and each team received a five-minute major.

The 'Jackets would soon find themselves with a power-play opportunity about three minutes later. Ecklund, on passes from Andrew Durham (Plano, Texas/Plano East) and Dylan Nelson (Clearwater, Minn./Annandale), would score at 15:18 to dig back into the Blugold lead with under five to play.

Rich McKenna would pull Cole Skinner (Lunenberg, N.S./Parkview Education Centre) from goal with 1:37 left to play in the final period, adding the extra man, but the Blugolds added one more at 19:14 to finish off the Yellowjackets.

Superior was outshot by Eau Claire 29-15 in the contest, but was able to win the faceoff battle 39-34.

The Yellowjackets will make the trip two River Falls for the first game of another back-to-back. The puck drops at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2.