SUPERIOR, Wis. – The men's hockey season is a grind in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In a typical campaign, nothing is decided with regard to the playoff picture until the final weekend, if not the final day.
 
Coming into play Friday, none of the six spots in the post-season tournament had been determined, and with the way the schedule fell this season, all three games Friday held serious playoff ramifications. Coming out of play Friday, four of the six spots had been decided. Unfortunately, the Yellowjackets are one of the two teams that still don't know where they stand for the tournament that starts next week.
 
Friday night, the Yellowjackets and Stevens Point met in a match-up of the two best defensive teams in the WIAC. A tight-checking game was expected going in, and that's exactly how things unfolded.
 
Stevens Point took the lead in the first, with the Yellowjackets tying the game midway through the third period. But the Pointers got the goal back just over a minute later and held on for a 2-1 win at Wessman Arena.
 
With the win, the Pointers secured the top seed in the WIAC tournament. With the loss, the Yellowjackets (15-7-2, 9-4-1 WIAC) remain in second place in the conference and still control their own destiny. Things are a little murkier, however, as UW-Eau Claire defeated UW-Stout Friday. The Blugolds trail the Yellowjackets by two points heading into the final day of the regular season Saturday. The stay in second place, the Yellowjackets need a win or a Blugold loss to secure the bye and host a semifinal series at Wessman Arena.
 
The Yellowjackets started fast Friday and went on the power play in the opening minute, but the Pointers, who entered the game killing off nearly 95 percent of shorthanded chances, took care of business and seized the momentum.
 
On a power play of their own, the Pointers capitalized, with a Fletcher Anderson shot from the right circle going in off Yellowjacket goaltender Dylan Meilun (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate Institute), making it 1-0 at 7:30 of the first period.
 
Stevens Point controlled play the remainder of the period, outshooting the Yellowjackets 7-1 in the first, but they couldn't build on the lead.
 
In the second the Yellowjackets came to life and had a couple of point-blank chances, but Pointer goaltender Ryan Wagner was equal to the task.
 
The Yellowjackets again had a strong start in the third period and had point-blank chances by Colton Friesen (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Dakota Collegiate) and Chris Ishmael (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park Secondary School), but again the Pointers turned it away. Sam Sterne (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) had a shot get through Wagner, but the Yellowjackets were unable to push the puck across the line for the equalizer.
 
Then at 9:07 of the third the Yellowjackets finally broke through. Dusty Bergstrom (Pine City, Minn./Pine City) took the shot from the point that got through, but the rebound came to Jordan Guiney (Victoria, British Columbia/Belmont Secondary School), and the junior scored his first goal of the year, tying the game at 1-1. At the time, the shots were tied for the first time in the game at 22-22.

That was the last shot on goal for the Yellowjackets, and it didn't take long for the Pointers to regain the lead.
 
Just 1:04 after Guiney's tally, the Pointers pounced on a turnover in the neutral zone, and Anderson scored his second of the game, beating Meilun high on the glove side with a wrist shot from the left circle.
 
The Yellowjackets earned a pair of power plays later in the third, but they were unable to tie the game. In the final seconds of the third, with Meilun off for the extra attacker, the Yellowjackets won an offensive zone face-off, but Friesen was denied on a shot from the slot.
 
Meilun made 27 saves in the game for the Yellowjackets. His record for the year is now 11-2-2. The Yellowjackets were outshot 29-22 in the game.
 
The Yellowjackets and the Pointers will meet in the regular season finale Saturday night at Wessman Arena. The opening face-off is set for 7:05 p.m.