Yellowjackets 5, Saint Mary's 2

WINONA, Minn.: Simply stated, nothing came easy for the Yellowjacket men's hockey team Friday night. Whether fighting the opponent or the puck, Friday night's game at Saint Mary's was difficult from start to finish.

Despite being difficult, when the final buzzer sounded the Yellowjackets chalked up arguably their guttiest win of the 2018-19 season, getting goals from five different players and a stalwart performance in goal from A.J. Smith (Keller, Texas/Southlake Carroll) on the way to a 5-2 victory over Saint Mary's before a crowd of 162 at the S.M.U. Ice Arena in Winona, Minnesota Friday night.

Smith was the star of the show, making 39 saves in the game to earn his third win of the year. He was particularly sharp in the first period, making 22 saves in a period where the Yellowjackets were badly outshot, and allowing them to go to the locker room leading 1-0.

The Yellowjackets opened the scoring at 6:30 of the first period when freshman Martan Yelle (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) scored his first collegiate goal, snapping a shot from the right circle past Saint Mary's goaltender Nick Nast on the short side to make it 1-0. Colton Nelson (Grand Rapids, Mich./Edmond North) earned his first assist of the year on the play.

It stayed that way until early in the second period when Saint Mary's got the equalizer as Owen Sikich beat Smith at 2:06. The tie didn't last long, however as the Yellowjackets regained the lead at 4:33. Artur Terchiyev (Kiev, Ukraine/Everst Academy) scored his third goal of the year, letting a shot go from the top of the right circle that beat Nast high on the glove side to make it 2-1.

Saint Mary's would rally again, scoring on a power play midway through the second. Ryan Carlson (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown) took a major for boarding and Jack Hatton made the Yellowjackets pay, scoring from the left circle at 11:56 to make it 2-2.

But just before the second period ended the Yellowjackets again took the lead. A turnover in the neutral zone gave the Yellowjackets a 2-on-1 and Daniel Litchke (Superior, Wis./Superior) made a perfect pass from the left circle to a streaking Jordan Martin (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey Collegiate) and the freshman made no mistake, scoring his second of the year with just 18.9 seconds left in the period to put the Yellowjackets in front for good.

In the third the Yellowjackets added to the lead. Martin and Litchke combined again, this time with Litchke finishing off the odd-man rush at 6:26 to make it a two-goal game. The Yellowjackets closed out the scoring at 17:49 when Will Blake (Champlin, Minn./Breck) scored unassisted, looking off a defender and beating Nast from the right circle high on the glove side to make the final score 5-2.

Martin had a goal and a pair of assists to pace the Yellowjackets offensively, who also got two points from Litchke. Troy MacTavish (Kanata, Ontario/Earl of March) added a pair of assists.

Friday's game was a penalty-filled affair, with the Yellowjackets taking nine penalties for 32 minutes, while Saint Mary's took eight penalties for 16 minutes. The Yellowjackets were scoreless in three power play chances, while Saint Mary's scored once on six power plays.

Up Next: The Yellowjackets (4-7-2, 0-1-1 W.I.A.C.) will close out the first half of the 2018-19 season with the second game of their series at Saint Mary's. Game time Saturday is set for 2:00 p.m.