SUPERIOR, Wis. – For the Yellowjacket men's hockey team, the second half of the season hasn't been kind.

After finishing the first half 9-4-0, the Yellowjackets entered play Friday sporting a 1-3-2 mark since December 29. What's worse, the Yellowjackets, one time tied for first place in the WIAC, have fallen off the pace some, and no longer control their own destiny with regard to the WIAC post-season.
 
So even though Friday's game wasn't necessarily a must win, it could be said a win should have been strongly considered.

It took a while, but the Yellowjackets finally broke through, riding a third period power play goal to a 1-0 win over UW-River Falls Friday night at Wessman Arena.
 
With the victory, the Yellowjackets (11-7-2, 6-3-1 WIAC) have taken the first two games of the season series from the Falcons.
 
Despite the result, the opening minutes of Friday's game were all Falcons. River Falls claimed the games first seven shots on goal. The Yellowjackets found their footing later in the first period, but the Falcons held a 14-8 edge in shots on goal after the scoreless first period.
 
In the second the Yellowjackets carried the play, outshooting the Falcons 14-9. Late in the period, however, the Yellowjackets were dealt a blow as starting goaltender Myles Hektor (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) went down with an injury. After lying on the ice for several minutes, he was helped off by teammates and replaced in goal my Dylan Meilun (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate Institute).
 
The Yellowjackets got their first power play opportunity of the game early in the third period and they cashed it in. C.J. Walker (Boise, Idaho/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) gave the puck to Charles Martin (Blainville, Quebec/École internationale Lucille-Teasdale) in the high slot and Martin moved to the left circle where he wired a shot over the glove hand of River Falls goaltender Dysen Skinner, making it 1-0 at 6:10 of the period. MacGregor Sinclair (Irma, Alberta/Irma School) also earned an assist on Martin's second goal of the year.
 
River Falls had a chance to tie the game in the final minute. With Skinner out and the extra attacker on, Noah Roofe took a shot from the high slot that went off the post. It was the only shot to escape Meilun during his time in the game.
 
Hektor made 19 saves before giving way to Meilun, who finished the night with ten stops. Meilun gets credit for the win, improving his record to 9-1-2 on the year. The shutout was the sixth of the season for the Yellowjackets.
 
On special teams, the Yellowjackets were 1-for-1 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
 
The Yellowjackets and River Falls will play the second game of their weekend series Saturday night at Wessman Arena. The opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m.