SUPERIOR, Wis. – Last Saturday the Yellowjacket men's hockey team closed out the non-conference portion of its 2024-25 schedule, setting the stage for the always difficult stretch run in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).
 
That stretch run got underway Wednesday, as the Yellowjackets hosted Northland College for the final meeting of the season between the teams. In the previous two meetings, the Yellowjackets won twice, and in the process outscored Northland 14-1.
 
It was more of the same in the third and final meeting, as the Yellowjackets employed a balanced attack on the way to a 7-1 win over the LumberJacks at Wessman Arena.
 
The win was the ninth in a row for the Yellowjackets (13-3-1, 6-1-0 WIAC), matching the third-longest winning streak in program history. More importantly, the victory lifted the Yellowjackets back into first place in the WIAC, where they have a two-point lead over second place Stevens Point and a three-point advantage over third place River Falls.
 
Seven different players scored goals, and 11 different players recorded points for the Yellowjackets, including freshman Kade Shea (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) who scored his first collegiate goal in the second period. Seven players had multi-point games.
 
Jack Boschert (Florissant, Mo./Duchesne) got the start in goal for the Yellowjackets and earned the win, making 10 saves to improve to 5-1-0 on the year.
 
Game Notes

• Chris Ishmael (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park Secondary School) opened the scoring for the Yellowjackets, taking a pass in the right circle from Trey Sauder (Swan River, Manitoba/Swan Valley Regional Secondary) and lifting a shot past Northland goaltender Andrew Yocum.
• Minutes later the Yellowjackets increased the lead when Matt Francois (Denver, Colo./Grandview) saucered a pass to Ikki Kogawa (Chiba, Japan/Collingwood Collegiate Institute) in the slot and he one-timed a shot past Yocum at 17:38 of the first.
• Gavin Watt (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia/Auburn) extended the Yellowjacket lead, getting a pass in the left circle from Ishmael and blasting a one-timer home for his third goal of the year.
• At 9:44 of the second Francois got in on the act, going end-to-end up the left wing, cutting to the net and tucking a backhand home for the shorthanded goal.
• The goal was the fifth shorthanded tally of the year for the Yellowjackets, which leads the WIAC.
• On the same penalty, Northland broke the shutout when Nolan Christy deflected a shot past Boschert to make it 4-1.
• Before the period ended the 'Jackets got the goal back, as Shea scored from close range at 16:31.
• Austin Paul (Saint-Lazare, Quebec/École Secondaire du Sommet) opened the scoring in the third period, batting a rebound out of the air at the top of the goal crease at 7:14 to make it a 6-1 game.
• Only 34 seconds later, on the power play, Carson Riddle (Ortonville, Mich./Brandon) scored his second goal of the year to provide the final goal of the game.
• Ishmael, Kogawa, Paul and Riddle all had a goal and an assist.
• The Yellowjackets outshot Northland 41-11.

The Yellowjackets will be back in action Friday, Jan. 24 when they host UW-River Falls in WIAC play. The opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m. at Wessman Arena.
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