SUPERIOR, Wis. – Yellowjacket men's hockey coach Rich McKenna, on the heels of Friday's season-opening loss to Adrian, voiced a list of wants he had for his team heading into Saturday's contest with Concordia at Wessman Arena.
 
And in those requests, he was prophetic.
 
McKenna told his team he wanted it to score an event strength goal. He told his team he wanted it to score the first goal of the game. And he told his team, in the event it fell behind, he wanted it to find a way to come from behind.
 
The Yellowjackets checked all the boxes.
 
Captain MacGregor Sinclair (Irma, Alberta/Irma School) played the role of a one-man wrecking crew, scoring his first collegiate hat trick and leading the Yellowjackets to a 5-4, come-from-behind win over the Cobbers.
 
Sinclair scored goals three different ways – one at even strength, one on the power play, and one shorthanded to even the Yellowjacket record for 22-23 at 1-1-0. The win also marked the 800th victory in the history of the program, which has roots dating to 1927.

The win, however, was anything but easy.
 
Sinclair opened the scoring Saturday, getting the puck in the left circle and wiring a wrist shot over the glove of Concordia goaltender Jackson Nelson at 4:56 of the first period to make it 1-0.
 
It stayed 1-0 into the second period, when Concordia completely took over. The first 10 minutes of the second period were all Cobbers, as the visitors ran the Yellowjackets out of the building and took the lead.
 
Concordia scored shorthanded at 4:24 and then potted even-strength goals at 5:43 and 8:56 to move in front 3-1.

The Yellowjackets flipped the switch midway through the period and came battling back. Freshman Colton Friesen (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Dakota Collegiate) pulled the Yellowjackets to within one, skating into the Concordia zone and snapping a shot from the left circle past Nelson on the short side to make it 3-2 at 13:06.
 
Late in the frame, Sinclair struck again. Sam Sterne (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) started the play at the Yellowjacket blue line, and calmly fed Sinclair at center ice, who went in on a shorthanded breakaway and deftly deked Nelson before sliding the puck between his pads and into the net, tying the game 3-3 with 1:59 left in the middle frame.
 
The Yellowjackets pulled in front for good on a power play early in the third. Charles Martin (Blainville, Quebec/École internationale Lucille-Teasdale) moved the puck from the left circle to the top of the goal crease, and Sinclair poked it home, completing the hat trick, making it a 4-3 game just 1:43 into the period.

A few minutes later the Yellowjackets got some insurance. Tristan Therrien (Prévost, Québec/Newbridge Academy) and Matt Francois (Denver, Colo./Grandview) perfectly executed a two-on-one, with Francois rifling a one-time from the right circle past Nelson to make it 5-3 at 5:16.
 
The lead held up until the closing minutes. Concordia pulled Nelson for an extra attacker, and with 1:05 to go pulled to within one at 5-4 on a deflection at the top of the goal crease.
 
It got even more interesting with 33 seconds to play when the Yellowjackets went shorthanded, but the penalty kill did the job and preserved the season's first victory.

Freshman Dylan Meilun (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate Institute) made his first career start Saturday and earned the victory. At times spectacular, Meilun held the Yellowjackets in the game during the tough second period and finished the night with 28 saves.
 
The Yellowjackets will close out their season-opening three-game homestand when they host Augsburg at Wessman Arena Tuesday. The opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m.