SUPERIOR, Wis. – Last season, the Yellowjacket men's hockey team met St. Scholastica in the championship game of the Superior Showdown, sponsored by Subway. Not only was it a meeting between a pair of longtime rivals, it also was the most entertaining game to be played in the six-year history of the event.
 
Following a great regulation game, the two teams went to overtime before Jordan Guiney (Victoria, British Columbia/Belmont Secondary School) ended it in the Yellowjackets' favor, scoring the game winner on a brilliant shot from the left circle.
 
That should make Saturday night at Wessman Arena all the more exciting.

The Yellowjackets and Saints met in a regular season game two weeks ago, with the Yellowjackets getting the win on a last-minute goal. Now the teams will meet again, and for the second year in a row, the Superior Showdown championship will be on the line.
 
St. Scholastica took care of business in the first game of the tournament, defeating Dubuque 5-3. In the nightcap, the Yellowjackets got a 34-save shutout performance from Kobe Grant (Vernon, British Columbia/South Kamloops Secondary) on the way to a 3-0 win over Lawrence Friday night at Wessman Arena, setting the stage for the title-game rematch.
 
With the victory, the Yellowjackets improved to 4-2-1 overall to go along with a 1-1-0 record in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
 
Grant was the best player on the ice in the game, turning aside every shot that came his way to earn the first shutout of his collegiate career. The third period offered a tense moment, when Grant was forced to stare down a penalty shot, but he was undeterred and made the save.
 
Two of the three Yellowjacket goals came from Reed Stark (Suffern, N.Y./Douglas County West), including the game winner.
 
Game Notes

• The Yellowjackets are now 4-0-0 in games played on Friday in 2024-25.
• Stark opened the scoring in this one, picking up his third goal of the year at 9:47 of the first period, making it 1-0. Stark's shot from the slot got through traffic and past Lawrence goaltender Nolan Mahaffey.
• In the second, period Collin Pederson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna), making his season debut after missing the first six games, made a great feed from the left corner to Matt Francois (Denver, Colo./Grandview) in the left circle, and Francois beat Mahaffey to the stick side to make it 2-0. It was Francois' second goal of the year.
• With under a second to play in the third period, Stark scored his second of the game, shooting into the empty net from the Yellowjacket zone to make the final score 3-0.
• Grant earned his first collegiate point with an assist on Stark's second goal.
• Stark has goals in back-to-back games and leads the Yellowjackets with four on the year.
• Tyler Ryder (Byron Center, Mich./Northstar Christian Academy) assisted on Stark's first-period goal and now has a three-game point streak.
• Gavin Rasmussen (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet) picked up an assist on the Francois goal and has four points in his last two games.
• Lawrence outshot the Yellowjackets 34-30, marking the fourth time in seven games the Yellowjackets have yielded 30 shots or more.
• The shutout was the first for the Yellowjackets since February 18, 2023, when they blanked Northland 3-0.
• Friday was just the third all-time meeting between UW-Superior and Lawrence, and the first since 2010. The Yellowjackets lead the all-time series 2-0-1.

 The Yellowjackets and Saints will meet for the Subway Superior Showdown championship Saturday night at Wessman Arena. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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