EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The Yellowjacket women's hockey got its first taste of conference play for the 2023-24 season Saturday, hitting the road for the second time this season to take on UW-Eau Claire in their Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener.
The Yellowjackets entered play Saturday, looking to end a two-game losing streak after being swept last weekend. UW-Eau Claire, meanwhile, came into the day with a 5-1-0 record and a No. 9 national ranking. Further, the Blugolds had won the last 18 meetings between the two teams.
It looked like the 'Jackets were going to get back in the win column and end the skid against the Blugolds, but UW-Eau Claire surged in the third period, applying near-constant pressure and scoring three times in the last 2:40 to come from behind and defeat the Yellowjackets 4-2 at the Hobbs Ice Center.
UWS now stands at 2-3-0 overall and 0-1-0 in the WIAC.
It didn't take the Yellowjackets long to get on the board in this one. Just 2:22 into the game junior
Cora Coz (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) scored her second goal of the season, getting assists from
Andrea Stelling (Sioux Falls, S.D./Eaton Rapids (Mich.)) and
Aylie Dahl (Beaumont, Alberta/John Maland) to put the Yellowjackets in front 1-0. The assist was the first collegiate point for Dahl.
Eau Claire drew even later in the evenly played first period when Hattie Verstegen scored a power play goal at 8:41 of the period, making it 1-1.
The game continued as a back-and-forth affair in the second period, and the Yellowjackets regained the lead with a power play goal of their own. The 'Jackets worked the puck into the slot and
Brynn MacLean (Wilcox, Saskatchewan/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) pounced on a loose puck and poked it past Eau Claire goaltender Josie Mathison, to make it 2-1. Coz and
Libby Kamp (Bloomington, Minn./Holy Family) assisted on MacLean's team-leading third goal of the year.
Later in the second the Yellowjackets got into penalty trouble and were two skaters down, but they were able to withstand the Blugold power play that carried into the third period.
In the final frame the Blugolds went on the offensive, outshooting the Yellowjackets 17-2, but despite the shot margin, it looked like the Yellowjacket lead might hold up. But with just 2:40 to play and an extra attacker on, Eau Claire tied it at 2-2 when Sophie Rausch scored.
Things got worse for the Yellowjackets later. They went shorthanded and the Blugolds got the eventual game-winning goal with 1:09 to play in the third when Eden Gruber got a loose puck to the right of the goal and pushed it past the outstretched arm of
Rose Beeman (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's School).
With Eau Claire leading 3-2, the Yellowjackets pulled Beeman in the final minute, but Rausch got her second of the game, hitting the empty net from the Yellowjacket blue line to make the final score 4-2.
Eau Claire outshot the Yellowjackets 40-19 in the game. Beeman finished with 36 saves for the Yellowjackets.
The Yellowjackets will stay in WIAC play next weekend with a pair of road games, beginning Friday night at Northland College. The opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Bay Area Civic Center in Ashland.
