SUPERIOR, Wis. – Welcome to the stretch run. The 2021-22 season has reached its final third, with the bulk of the schedule being spent within the confines of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The WIAC is a grind. Some will argue that the circuit, top to bottom, is the most difficult in all of NCAA Division III. It truly lives to the adage of any given night, any team can beat any other team. In a typical year, post-season positioning isn't determined until the last game on the schedule has gone final.
 
Welcome to the stretch run.

The Yellowjackets entered Friday sitting four points back of UW-Stevens Point, the first-place team in the WIAC, and one point behind second-place UW-River Falls. The 'Jackets, who had a stretch as the top team in the conference, would be taking on a UW-Eau Claire team that has had their number of late.

Entering play Friday, the Yellowjackets, who had won four in a row and were unbeaten in seven, had lost their last eight games to the Blugolds, including a 5-1 setback on Nov. 19. Much has changed since then, however, especially for the Yellowjackets, who seem to have found their stride.
 
The Yellowjackets came out with a complete effort Friday, got a pair of goals on the power play and rode the stellar goaltending of Myles Hektor (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) to a 3-0 win over UW-Eau Claire at Wessman Arena.
 
The victory extended both the winning and unbeaten streaks for the Yellowjackets (11-4-2, 5-2-1 WIAC) and snapped the lengthy losing streak to the Blugolds. The win also kept the Yellowjackets on pace with the leaders of the conference. UW-River Falls edged UW-Stevens Point Friday, putting them in a tie for first place in the conference and leaving the Yellowjackets one point back.
 
After going scoreless on the power play last Saturday, a goose egg that snapped a streak of seven straight games with a goal on the man advantage, the Yellowjackets got a new streak going early in this one. Just 5:04 into the game Chad Lopez (Arlington, Texas/University of Texas) scored on a rebound to put the 'Jackets in front 1-0. Lopez, who snapped an eight-game goal drought last Saturday scored for the second game in a row, getting assists from Artur Terchiyev (Kiev, Ukraine/Everest Academy) and Jordan Martin (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey Collegiate) to put the Yellowjackets in front.
 
Early in the second period the power play converted again. This time it was Terchiyev, snapping a shot from between the circles past Eau Claire goaltender Ryan Ouellette for his fourth goal of the season just 1:18 into the period. Dylan Johnson (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet Senior) assisted.
 
Minutes later the Yellowjackets tallied again. John Stampohar (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids Senior) took a shot from the right point and Zach Bannister (Grande Prairie, Alberta/St. Joseph Catholic), who was providing the screen in front redirected the shot past Ouellette for his second goal in as many games and his sixth of the year, making it 3-0.

From there the Yellowjacket defense and Hektor took over. Hektor came into the game with a sparkling goals against average of 1.81 and a save percentage of .933. He'll improve on both figures after his shutout performance, the third of the season for him. Eau Claire outshot the Yellowjackets 30-22.
 
On special teams, the Yellowjackets went 2-for-4 on the power play and a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
 
The Yellowjackets and Blugolds will play the second game of their weekend series Saturday night at Wessman Arena. The opening face-off is set for 7:05 p.m.