EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – It seems like the 2022-23 season just started for the Yellowjacket men's hockey team. Yet, in the blink of an eye, the 'Jackets, and the rest of their WIAC brethren, have reached the stretch run.
 
The non-conference portion of the schedule fell into the rearview mirror after last weekend, and the sprint to the finish started Friday, as the Yellowjackets played the first game of a two-game weekend series on the road.

For long stretches Friday, the Yellowjackets controlled the play, and by and large they were the better team, but UW-Eau Claire took advantage of the chances they were given, picking up a 4-2 win over the Yellowjackets at the Hobbs Ice Center.
 
Coupled with other results in the WIAC Friday, the defeat dropped the Yellowjackets (10-7-1, 5-3-0 WIAC) into second place in the conference, three points behind UW-Stevens Point for the conference lead, and three points clear of third-place UW-Stout. It's the first time all season the Yellowjackets have dropped back-to-back games.
 
Eau Claire opened the scoring at 11:04 of the first period when Cade Lemmer tipped a point shot past Yellowjacket goaltender Dylan Meilun (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate Institute) to make it 1-0. The Blugolds extended the lead to 2-0 at 16:51 of the first, when a Yellowjacket pass hit a skate and caromed to the right circle, and Leo Bacallao hammered a shot past Meilun low on the stick side.
 
The Yellowjackets got on the board at 4:02 of the second period.
 
John Stampohar (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids Senior) and Antonio Di Paolo (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Humboldt Collegiate Institute) played catch at the blue line, and captain MacGregor Sinclair (Irma, Alberta/Irma School) tipped the point shot over the shoulder of Eau Claire goaltender Max Gutjahr, cutting the lead in half at 2-1. For Sinclair, it was his seventh goal of the year.
 
Eau Claire got that goal back, however, at 12:44 of the second period. Jack Johnston took a shot from the right circle that Meilun stopped, but the rebound dropped right on the stick of Aaron Swanson who poked it home, and reinstate the two-goal lead.
 
Late in the second period Eau Claire was assessed a five-minute major for boarding, and over three minutes of the power play carried over into the third period. Whatever the Yellowjackets talked about during the intermission worked, as they employed a brilliant passing play that resulted in Sinclair sliding home his second of the game and eighth of the year just 42 seconds into the period. C.J. Walker (Boise, Idaho/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) and Collin Pederson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna Senior) assisted.
 
The power play goal boosted the morale of a unit that had scored just twice in 23 opportunities, going back to November 22.
 
The Yellowjackets nearly got the equalizer on the next shift of the power play, but Gutjahr made multiple saves on the Yellowjacket flurry, keeping the score 3-2.
 
In the waning seconds of the game the Yellowjackets pulled Meilun in favor of an extra attacker, and Bacallao won a race to a puck and scored into the empty net, making the final score 4-2.
 
For the game, the Yellowjackets outshot Eau Claire 25-22. Meilun took the loss, the first of his Yellowjacket career. His record now stands at 8-1-1.
 
The Yellowjackets and Blugolds will play the second game of their series Saturday night. The opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Hobbs Ice Center.