EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Over the last two weekends, the Yellowjacket women's hockey team took care of business. Sitting in fourth place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) standings, the Yellowjackets snapped a long losing streak and closed the regular season on a high note to leap over UW-Stevens Point and into third place in the conference standings.
 
As a result, the Yellowjackets avoided playing in the WIAC first-round game. That's the good news. The flip side, however, is the Yellowjackets earned a date with UW-Eau Claire, the No. 2 seed in the WIAC and a team that swept the regular season series.

The Blugolds jumped out to an early lead Friday and never looked back, defeating the Yellowjackets 6-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the WIAC semifinal series at the Hobbs Ice Center.
 
Eau Claire, who scored three times in the first period to build an insurmountable lead, got four goals in the game from its top scorer, Sophie Rausch. Rausch's second goal of the game proved to the be eventual game winner, while her fourth tally came while the Yellowjackets were on the power play.
 
Trailing 4-0, the Yellowjackets (8-17-1) broke through when Gaby Andreacchi (Thunder Bay, Ontario/St. Patrick) scored her third goal of the year at 9:43 of the second period. Eau Claire would score two more in the third before the Yellowjackets closed out the scoring at 14:37 of the final frame when Jada LeBlanc (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute) scored her third of the year.
 
Reigning WIAC Women's Hockey Player of the Week Rose Beeman (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's School) started in goal for the Yellowjackets and finished the game with 32 saves.
 
Game Notes

• The loss snaps the Yellowjackets' four-game winning streak.
• Andreacchi has posted six points in her last 16 games after going pointless in 10 games to start the season.
• LeBlanc has now scored goals in back-to-back games.
• LeBlanc also added an assist, making Friday her second multi-point game of the season.
• Ashton Parnell (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) and Kailey Swerhun (Thunder Bay, Ontario/St. Ignatius) also had assists for the Yellowjackets.
• Parnell now has nine assists and 16 points for the year, both tops on the team.
• The Yellowjackets were outshot 38-15 in the game.
• LeBlanc and Cora Coz (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) each had three shots on goal to lead the Yellowjackets.
• Penalties and power plays were even in the game.

The Yellowjackets and Blugolds will play the second game of their series Saturday. The opening faceoff is set for 2 p.m. at the Hobbs Ice Center.
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