MENOMONIE, Wis. – Last Saturday, the Yellowjacket men's hockey team ended a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 win on the road over UW-Stout. Entering Saturday, the Yellowjackets knew they would be playing Stout in the first round of the WIAC Tournament, it was just a matter of where the series would be played.
 
After a Sunday coaches call, the Yellowjackets learned they would be back on the road this weekend, and once again they would be at the Fanetti Community Center for a best-of-three series with the Blue Devils.
 
Things were tightly contested Friday night, as Superior and Stout played about as tight a game as there could be. After 40 scoreless minutes the Yellowjackets outshot Stout 12-8 in the third period and netted the only goal, defeating Stout 1-0 at the Fanetti Community Center.
 
With the win, the Yellowjackets (14-10-2) take a 1-0 lead in the first round series, and they can advance to the second round with a win or a tie Saturday.
 
Stout outshot the Yellowjackets 11-7 in the first period, but the goaltenders were the stars of the show. Myles Hektor (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) of the Yellowjackets and Zack Cloutier of Stout made everything look routine in the frame. Things tightened up even more in the second period. With five minutes to play the teams had combined for just eight shots in the period. Austin Friesen (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Glenlawn Collegiate School) rang a shot off the post early in the period, and later on Jordan Martin (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey Collegiate) had a redirection near the top of the goal crease go just wide – the two shots accounting for the best chances of the period.
 
In the third the Yellowjackets were finally able to break through when David Kaplan (Vernon Hills, Ill./Bishop Eustace Prep) took a shot off a face-off and banked it on off Reed Stark (Suffern, N.Y./Douglas County West) to make it a 1-0 game 5:47 into the period. For Stark, who had missed the last three games with an injury, it was his ninth goal of the season.
 
From there the Yellowjacket defense and goaltending took over. Hektor turned in a superlative performance, earning his fourth shutout of the season by making 26 saves. Stout outshot the Yellowjackets 26-23 in the game.
 
Not many penalties were assessed in the game, and as a result power plays were scarce. The 'Jackets finished the game 0-for-1 on the power play and were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
 
The Yellowjackets and Blue Devils will play game two of their series Saturday night at the Fanetti Community Center. The opening face-off is set for 7 p.m.