EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – During the 2022-23 regular season, the Yellowjackets and UW-Eau Claire met three times, and the series couldn't have been more even. Each team won a game and there was one tie game. The teams scored the same number of goals, combining for a total of 14 in the three contests. So it stood to reason that this weekend, the teams would engage in a tight-checking, hard-fought defensive series in the WIAC semifinals.
 
Well, throw that theory out the window.
 
Friday night there were goals and shots aplenty, with the Yellowjackets outshooting Eau Claire 37-24, including a second-period margin of 19-7, but in the end the Blugolds got the bounces they needed to pick up a 6-5 win in overtime at the Hobbs Ice Center.
 
The Yellowjackets (15-11-2) now find themselves in the same position they were last week – needing a win in Saturday's game followed by a win in the mini-game to keep their season alive.
 
In the first period the Yellowjackets came out a little flat and were forced to defend for long stretches. They were outshot 9-6 in the period, but they also scored the only goal of the frame.
 
John Stampohar (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids Senior) started the play, holding the zone at the offensive blue line. He got the puck to Antonio Di Paolo (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Humboldt Collegiate Institute) to maneuvered on the right side before finding MacGregor Sinclair (Irma, Alberta/Irma School) in the slot. The senior captain faked the slap shot, moved to his right and wristed a shot high into the goal for his team-leading 12th goal of the year, making it 1-0 at 18:05.
 
Eau Claire came back with a vengeance early in the second, however, scoring on three of their first five shots in the period to take a two-goal lead. Leo Bacallao beat Dylan Meilun (Morden, Manitoba/Morden Collegiate Institute) high on the glove side at 2:32 to tie the game 1-1. Later, Bacallao found Colin Stein at the left point, whose shot beat Meilun at 6:22 to put Eau Claire in front. Then at 11:29 Aaron Swan snapped a shot from the right circle over Meilun's glove, making it 3-1, chasing Meilun, who was relieved by Myles Hektor (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest).
 
Late in the period, the Yellowjackets got a bounce of their own and pulled back to within one.
 
Eau Claire defenseman Willy Stauber misplayed a puck at the Yellowjacket blue line, and Colton Friesen (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Dakota Collegiate) grabbed it and sped up ice. From the left circle, Friesen's shot beat Eau Claire goaltender Max Gutjahr high on the glove side to make it 3-2. Friesen's 11th goal of the year came at 18:08.
 
The Yellowjackets got a power play late in the second that carried over into the third period, but the Blugolds were the team that capitalized.
 
After icing the puck, Hektor attempted to move the puck up ice, only to have it carom off an Eau Claire forechecker and into the net. Jack Johnston was credited with the shorthanded goal just 30 seconds into the third period, making it a 4-2 game.
 
The Yellowjackets came back and again pulled to within one. At 4:29 of the third, Tristan Therrien (Prévost, Québec/Newbridge Academy), who hadn't scored since January 13, broke into the Eau Claire zone and beat Gutjahr from the left circle for his seventh of the year to make the score 4-3.
 
But the joy for the Yellowjackets was short-lived, as Eau Claire regained the two-goal lead just 22 seconds later. Ty Readman made a behind the back pass to Ryan Green, who skated in and slid the puck between Hektor's pads, and just like that it was 5-3.
 
It stayed that way until midway through the third period when each team went down a man. Playing four-on-four, Collin Pederson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna Senior) made a pass from the right wing over to the left circle where Charles Martin (Blainville, Quebec/École internationale Lucille-Teasdale) one-timed a shot past Gutjahr for his third of the year, making it a one-goal game again, 5-4, with 8:06 to play.
 
The Yellowjackets kept the pressure on Eau Claire, again outshooting them in the period, and got the equalizer with just over three minutes to play.
 
Zach Bannister (Grande Prairie, Alberta/St. Joseph Catholic) got the puck in the slot and put a shot on goal that was turned away, but Gavin Rasmussen (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet Senior) pounced on the rebound and backhanded it into the empty net, tying the game 5-5 with 3:34 to play.
 
In the overtime, Eau Claire got the only shot of the period, netting the game winning goal at 1:56 of the extra session. Readman got the puck to Dawson Klein at the left point, and his wrist shot got through traffic and beat a screened Hektor, giving Eau Claire the win and the lead in the series.
 
Meilun stopped 11 of 14 shots before giving way to Hektor, who took the loss after stopping seven of 10 shots faced. His record falls to 3-8-0 on the year. At the other end, Gutjahr made 32 saves for Eau Claire.

Each team took five penalties for 10 minutes, and each team went scoreless on two power play chances.
 
The Yellowjackets and Blugolds will play game two of their WIAC semifinal series Saturday night. The opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Hobbs Ice Center.