EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Tuesday night the Yellowjacket men's hockey team opened conference play with a win, and it entered Friday not only looking for its third win in a row, but also the chance to stay on top of the conference standings heading into Saturday's home opener.

Standing in the way of that was UW-Eau Claire. Despite holding an edge in the all-time series between the two schools, the Yellowjackets have had difficulty winning games against the Blugolds of late. A win Friday would put an end to a recent losing streak against Eau Claire, and put the Yellowjackets in position to get the jump on conference opponents early in the year.
 
It wasn't meant to be.
 
A 10-minute stretch in the first period that saw Eau Claire score three times was too much to overcome, and the Yellowjackets fell 5-1 at the Hobbs Ice Center in Eau Claire.
 
After a slow start in the first period the Yellowjackets (3-2-0, 1-1-0 WIAC) played well in the second and third, but came away with nothing to show for the effort. The 'Jackets also came out on the short end of the special teams battle, going scoreless in seven power play chances while giving up one goal on the power play and also surrendering a shorthanded marker.
 
This season the Yellowjackets have been accustomed to getting off to fast starts, and they did so again Friday. Just 3:17 into the game Troy MacTavish (Kanata, Ontario/Earl of March) scored his first goal of the season to give the 'Jackets a 1-0 lead. Artur Terchiyev (Kiev, Ukraine/Everest Academy) skated into the Eau Claire zone and threaded a pass to David Kaplan (Vernon Hills, Ill./Bishop Eustace Prep) in the left circle. Kaplan took the puck to the net and had his chance denied, but MacTavish went to the net and buried the rebound.
 
Eau Claire answered at 6:14 when Simon Sagissor got a loose puck and scored on a scramble in front. The Blugolds took the lead for good 90 seconds later on a Ty Readman goal. It went to 3-1 at 14:02 when Quinn Green finished off a shorthanded 2-on-1 with a one-time from the right circle that beat Yellowjacket goaltender Landon Pavlisin (San Clemente, Calif./Pacific Coast).
 
The Yellowjackets carried the play early in the second and had three power plays before the frame was half over. Eau Claire killed them off and used that momentum to put another goal on the board. Connor Szmul scored on a one-time from the right circle 10:54 to push the lead to four.
 
Myles Hektor (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) took over in goal to start the third period for the Yellowjackets and stop everything thrown his way until the final shot. With two Yellowjackets in the penalty box in the final minute Luke Oleksiuk scored a power play goal with under a second to play, making the final score 5-1.
 
Eau Claire outshot the Yellowjackets 33-23 in the game. Pavlisin stopped 21 shots in 40 minutes, while Hektor made seven saves on eight shots in the third.
 
The Yellowjackets will finally make their 2021-22 home debut Saturday night when they host UW-Stevens Point. The opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m. at Wessman Arena.