SUPERIOR, Wis.: The Yellowjacket men's hockey team reached the end of the regular season Saturday night, closing the campaign with a home game against UW-Stout. Prior to the opening faceoff the Yellowjackets honored the four seniors who were appearing in their final regular season games at Wessman Arena. Unfortunately, the words spoken over the public address system about Bruno Birzitis (Riga, Latvia/Riga Distance Education Secondary), Liam Blais (Uxbridge, Ontario/Uxbridge Secondary), Andrew Durham (Richardson, Texas/Plano East), and Colton Nelson (Grand Rapids, Mich./Edmond North) ended up being the highlight of the evening.

UW-Stout scored just 3:41 into the game and the goal held up, as the Blue Devils defeated the Yellowjackets 1-0 at Wessman Arena.

The early goal overshadowed a strong performance by Yellowjacket goaltender Nick Althaus (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo). The freshman, who was making his second straight start, finished the game with 29 saves, but with a lack of offensive support, the one that got by him ended up being the game winner.

Logan Nelson broke down the slot in the Yellowjacket zone and took a perfect centering pass from Konnar Dechaine before snapping a shot past the outstretched glove of Althaus to make it 1-0.

The Yellowjackets began to come to life in the second period and had a good third period, but had their chances stymied throughout the night by Stout goaltender Brennan Kitchen or the goal post. Kitchen earned his second shutout of the year Saturday, turning aside all 35 Yellowjacket shots he faced.

Despite the loss, the Yellowjackets (14-8-3, 7-8-0 WIAC) finish the 2019-20 season as the No. 3 seed in the WIAC playoffs. They will be home February 21-22 for a two-game home playoff series against Northland. The opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m. both nights.