ASHLAND, Wis. – What a difference a week makes.
 
After a loss to UW-River Falls last Friday, the Yellowjacket men's hockey team was reeling, sitting with an overall record of 1-5-0 and 0-1-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).
 
Then, over the last seven days, the Yellowjackets picked up three wins, and with a win Saturday, were poised to win their fourth game in a row and pull their record back to the .500 mark.
 
This year's edition of the Yellowjackets hasn't done anything the easy way, and Saturday's game with Northland was no exception.
 
The 'Jackets came out of the gates flat and fell behind, but they battled back to defeat Northland 4-1 at the Bay Area Civic Center.
 
The victory completed a weekend sweep for the Yellowjackets, and evened their record to 5-5-0 on the year. The win also gives the Yellowjackets a 3-1-0 mark in the WIAC, tying them for first place in the conference heading into a critical stretch of games to close the first half.
 
In the first period the Yellowjackets outshot Northland 10-8, but the LumberJacks carried the play as the period wore on, and before the period was over opened the scoring. Ben Stewart got the puck in the left circle and snapped a shot that beat Jack Boschert (Florissant, Mo./Duchesne) on the glove side to make it 1-0.
 
It was more of the same to start the second period, but the Yellowjackets fought through their difficulties and early in the period drew even.
 
Matthew Danziger (Potomac, Md./University of Nebraska High) got the puck at his own blue line and wired a pass up the middle to Justin Dauphinais (Val Caron, Ontario/École Secondaire Catholique Horizon), who made a quick stick move before lifting a shot over the glove of Northland goaltender Viktor Wennberg to tie the game 1-1. Jordan Guiney (Victoria, British Columbia/Belmont Secondary School) also assisted on the goal at 5:33. Dauphinais has now scored a goal in each of the last four games.
 
With under two minutes to play in the second the Yellowjackets took the lead for good.

Dusty Bergstrom (Pine City, Minn./Pine City) intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and then sidestepped a defender to move into the Northland zone. From the left circle, Bergstrom fired a shot over Wennberg's glove for his third of the year, and with 1:50 to play in the period the 'Jackets were up 2-1.
 
Early in the third period the 'Jackets got some breathing room.
 
Freshman Evan Axell (Plymouth, Minn./Armstrong) took a shot from the right point that Wennberg stopped, but Gavin Rasmussen (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet Senior) poked home the rebound at 2:44 to make it 3-1. Reed Stark (Suffern, N.Y./Douglas County West) also assisted on Rasmussen's fourth goal of the year. Rasmussen has already surpassed his goal and point totals from last season.
 
The Yellowjackets closed out the scoring on the power play at 9:31. Chris Ishmael (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park Secondary School) scored his third goal of the year, taking a wrist shot from the right circle and beating Wennberg low to make it 4-1. Bergstrom and Dauphinais assisted.
 
From there the Yellowjackets continued to press, outshooting Northland 15-4 in the period, but they weren't able to add any more goals to the board.
 
Boschert made his fourth start in goal and got the win, improving his record to 4-0-0 on the year. He finished the game with 24 saves. For the weekend, Boschert stopped 49-of-51 shots he faced.
 
The Yellowjackets went 1-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill Saturday.
 
Up next, the Yellowjackets will stay on the road when they travel to UW-Eau Claire for a game with the Blugolds. The opening faceoff from the Hobbs Ice Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1.