SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Yellowjacket men's hockey team entered the 2022-23 season with a very different look than the past several years. Gone are a number of familiar faces, and their departures paved the way for one of the biggest Yellowjacket recruiting classes in recent years. With a lot of youth, comes a lot of unknown, and what better way to welcome the new class into college hockey than by playing host to the No. 1 team in the nation.
 
Friday night, the Yellowjackets faced off for the first time in program history against the Adrian College Bulldogs. Adrian, already 2-0-1 on the young season entering the game, not only came in as the top team in Division III hockey, but also as the defending national champions.
 
What the young Yellowjackets lacked in collegiate experience, they made up for in passion and fire, but that wasn't enough and they dropped a penalty-filled contest to the Bulldogs, 7-3 at Wessman Arena.
 
The Yellowjackets got the start they wanted, carrying the play early and nearly jumping out to an early lead. The momentum was thwarted, however, when the Yellowjackets got into penalty trouble.
 
Adrian scored early and often, taking advantage of their early chances to build an early, insurmountable lead. The Bulldogs scored on a power play at the 7:02 mark of the first period to make it 1-0. At 14:19 they forced a turnover and scored to make it a 2-0 game. A power play goal late in the first made it a 3-0 game going into the intermission.
 
The Yellowjackets came out with jump again in the second, and finally broke through with a power play  marker of their own. Bradley Stonnell (Surrey, British Columbia/Tamanawis Secondary School), who lost the entire second half of the 2021-22 season to injury, got the puck between the faceoff dots and rifled a shot over the glove of the Adrian goaltender Nic Talarico to make it 3-1 at 8:17.
 
As the period progressed the Yellowjackets grabbed the momentum again, and nearly closed the gap more, but Talarico was up to the task. Adrian would get that goal back with under two minutes to go in the period, and took a 4-1 lead into the locker room.
 
Adrian scored twice in less than a minute to put the game out of reach, making it 6-1 with 12:56 to play.
 
Shortly after the sixth goal Adrian took a five-minute penalty, and the Yellowjackets capitalized to cut the lead in half.
 
Colton Friesen (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Dakota Collegiate) picked up his first collegiate goal, blasting a shot from the right circle past Talarico to  make it 6-2 at 9:54. Then, at 14:04, C.J. Walker (Boise, Idaho/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) deflected a shot past Talarico to make it a 6-3 game.

Late in the period the Yellowjackets pulled goaltender Myles Hektor (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) for an extra attacker, but Adrian scored into the empty net to make the final score 6-3.
 
In his return to the lineup, Stonnell had a two-point night, adding an assist to his goal. Charles Martin (Blainville, Quebec/École internationale Lucille-Teasdale) also had a pair of assists in the game.
 
Hektor got the start and finished the game with 22 saves. The Yellowjackets outshot Adrian 36-29 for the game.
 
The Yellowjackets are back home Saturday when they host Concordia College. The opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m. at Wessman Arena.