STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Following Friday's loss in the first game of the WIAC semifinals, the Yellowjacket men's hockey team entered play Saturday with its back against the wall, knowing they had to win not once, but twice Saturday if it had any chance at defending its conference championship from last season.
 
The Yellowjackets put forth a valiant, blue-collar effort Saturday, but in the end, it wasn't enough, as they lost a one-goal game for the third time in the last three visits to Stevens Point.
 
UW-Stevens Point jumped on the Yellowjackets early, putting them in a hole they couldn't dig out of on the way to a 3-2 win and a WIAC semifinal series sweep at K.B. Willett Arena Saturday.
 
With the series win, UW-Stevens Point will host UW-Eau Claire in the WIAC Championship next Saturday. The Blugolds advanced to the final with a series sweep over UW-River Falls.
 
Stevens Point opened the scoring at 5:35 of the first period when Carter Roo got a pass in the left circle and lifted a shot over the glove of Yellowjacket goaltender Myles Hektor (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) to make it 1-0. The Pointers increased their lead at 8:11 of the first in similar fashion. David Hill got the puck in tight to the left of the Yellowjacket goal and his shot got over Hektor's glove, making it a 2-0 game.
 
Moments later the Yellowjackets went shorthanded, but the penalty kill came through and shut the Pointers down.
 
Later in the period the Yellowjackets got a power play of their own, and the unit, which has been among the nation's best this season, got Superior on the board.
 
Troy Quinn (Nepean, Ontario/St. Paul's Catholic) took a shot from the blue line that Coltyn Bates (Brandon, Manitoba/Vincent Massey Collegiate) tipped off the post and in for his ninth of the year, making it a 2-1 game with 4:01 to go in the first period. Zach Bannister (Grande Prairie, Alberta/St. Joseph Catholic) also assisted.
 
In the second the Yellowjackets had the better of the play, outshooting Stevens Point 9-7 and having the better scoring chances. Unfortunately, it was the Pointers who scored first in the period, as Hill tallied his second of the game on a wrist shot from the right circle to make it 3-1 at 14:14.
 
But the Yellowjackets got a boost late in the period and again pulled to within a goal. Levi Cudmore (Park River, N.D./Park River) drove in fast on the forecheck and knocked the Stevens Point defenseman off the puck. Cudmore picked up the loose puck and centered to Ty Proffitt (Fairbanks, Alaska/Fairbanks BEST), who one-timed a shot high over the glove of Pointer goaltender Ryan Wagner, making it a 3-2 game at 17:23.
 
As the third period unfolded the Pointers regained their territorial advantage and outshot the Yellowjackets. The score held and as time ticked off the clock the Yellowjackets were denied the equalizer. The final face-off came with 2.8 seconds to play. The Yellowjackets won the draw, but the Pointers blocked multiple shots to preserve the win and put an end to the season for the Yellowjackets.
 
Hektor finished the night with 29 saves for the Yellowjackets, who were outshot by the Pointers 32-21.
 
The Yellowjackets wrap up the 2021-22 season 15-12-2.