MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The season-opening road swing continued for the Yellowjacket men's hockey team Friday.
 
A week ago, the Yellowjackets opened the season with a wild game, falling 6-4 at St. Scholastica, the team that won the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) regular season title last year. The team that won the playoff title, however, was Augsburg, the Yellowjacket opponent Friday.
 
Augsburg, the No. 12 team in the country, was also entering the game looking for its first win of the season, after falling to UW-Eau Claire in overtime last week. Something had to give, and unfortunately for the Yellowjackets, things didn't break their way in this one either.
 
After a dynamic first period, the Yellowjackets weren't able to duplicate their play in the final two periods, and the Auggies snuck by them, 2-1 at Ed Saugestad Rink.
 
The Yellowjackets (0-2-0, 0-0-0 WIAC) will now look for their first win of the 2023-24 season Saturday night.
 
Both teams came out flying in the first period, matching the same frantic pace the Yellowjackets saw last weekend at St. Scholastica. The teams traded chances, but the goaltenders were strong on both sides. The Yellowjackets broke the ice first, and consequently got their first lead of the season late in the frame.
 
On a power play, Dusty Bergstrom (Pine City, Minn./Pine City) held the zone at the left point and got a shot away at the top of the left circle that got through Augsburg goaltender Samuel Vyletelka. Gavin Rasmussen (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet Senior) was on the doorstep to bang the loose puck home for his first of the year, making it 1-0 with 1:26 to go in the first period.
 
Augsburg began to assert itself more in the second period, and enjoyed extended shifts on the forecheck that eventually produced results. The Auggies tied the game at 5:49 of the second on a fluke goal.
 
A shot from the right circle got deflected up in the air and was tipped multiple times before landing behind Yellowjacket goaltender Kobe Grant (Vernon, British Columbia/South Kamloops Secondary) to make it 1-1. Augsburg's Dylan Schneider got credit for the goal.
 
It went to 2-1 later in the period when Luke Mountain fed a pass through traffic toward the front of the Yellowjacket net and Schneider was there again to poke it past Grant at 17:54.
 
From there, the Augsburg defense, and more importantly for them Vyletelka, kept the Yellowjackets at bay to close out the win.
 
Grant made his first collegiate start for the Yellowjackets Friday, taking the loss to fall to 0-2-0 on the year. He finished the game with 28 saves. Augsburg outshot the Yellowjackets 30-27 for the game.
 
The Yellowjackets are back in action Saturday when they travel to Moorhead, Minn. to take on Concordia College. The opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Moorhead Sports Center.