BOSTON – The Yellowjacket men's hockey team made history Friday, when it became the first western team to play in the Codfish Bowl, the oldest tournament in NCAA Division III men's hockey. Saturday, the Yellowjackets elevated that history, becoming the first western team to win the Codfish Bowl.
 
The Yellowjackets advanced to Saturday's title game against UMass Boston with a 2-0 win over Fitchburg State Friday. Saturday, the Yellowjackets scored in bunches against the hosts and skated to a 5-2 win to claim the championship in the tournament's 59th year at the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink.
 
In addition to coming home with the tournament hardware, the Yellowjackets (10-3-1, 5-1-0 WIAC) will return to Superior riding a six-game winning streak.
 
The Yellowjackets opened the scoring late in the first period, netting a pair of goals just 40 seconds apart. They then scored three times in a span of 3:03 midway through the second period, with two of the goals coming shorthanded, to blow the game open.
 
Five different players scored goals in the game, and Kobe Grant (Vernon, British Columbia/South Kamloops Secondary) earned the win in net, turning aside 35 shots to improve his record to 3-1-1 on the year.
 
Game Notes

• The Yellowjackets outshot UMass Boston 40-37 for the game.
• Matt Francois (Denver, Colo./Grandview) opened the scoring for the Yellowjackets, putting one home from the top of the goal crease at 17:11 of the first period. Ikki Kogawa (Chiba, Japan/Collingwood Collegiate Institute) assisted.
• Just 30 seconds later the Yellowjackets extended the lead when Justin Dauphinais (Val Caron, Ontario/École Secondaire Catholique Horizon) broke up a play, skated into the Boston zone and wired a wrist shot from the left circle past the Boston goaltender.
• Dauphinais had a five-game scoring streak snapped Friday and now has a goal in six of his past seven games.
• It went to 3-0 at 7:05 of the second period when Gavin Watt (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia/Auburn) scored on a breakaway for his second of the year. Dusty Bergstrom (Pine City, Minn./Pine City) assisted.
• Logan Nickerson (East Haddam, Conn./West Haven) scored a shorthanded goal at 9:26 of the second, intercepting a pass in the neutral zone, getting around a defender and scoring from the right circle to make it 4-0.
• Seconds later, Chris Ishmael (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park Secondary School) converted a shorthanded breakaway for his third, extending the lead to five.
• UMass Boston broke he shutout bid at 14:13 of the second, then added another goal early in the third to make the final score 5-2.
• Nickerson now has goals in three straight games and was named the tournament's MVP.
• Francois scored his third goal of the season Saturday, tying a career high set in 2022-23.
• The Yellowjackets' current six-game winning streak is the longest for the program since they won seven in a row from Jan. 31 through Feb. 28 in 2009.

The Yellowjackets are back home Friday, Jan. 10 when they continue non-conference play against Concordia. The opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m. at Wessman Arena.
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