The UWS Men’s Hockey Team lined up for the national anthem before a game. The ‘Jackets lost to UW-Eau Claire 5-1 on Feb. 10.
Photo by Holden Law
For the first time in 2021, the Yellowjacket men’s hockey team found itself facing a team besides Northland College. The ‘Jackets took four games from the Lumberjacks over the past two weeks, winning two exhibition contests followed by a pair of regular season wins, putting the ‘Jackets in sole possession of first place in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) heading into play Wednesday, Feb. 10.
The unbeaten start was going to face a difficult test, however, as the Yellowjackets hit the road to take on UW-Eau Claire, who opened the season with a split against UW-Stevens Point last week.
It was a tough-sledding kind of night for the Yellowjackets. Opportunities were tough to come by, yet midway through the through third period the Yellowjackets scored to make it a one-goal game. From there Eau Claire took off, getting three goals late, winning 5-1 at the Hobbs Ice Center.
The first period featured back-and-forth play, but the defenses held and it was scoreless after 20 minutes. It stayed that way until 16:28 of the second period, when Adam Parsells took a shot from the left boards that got through Oscar Svensson (Södertälje, Sweden/Haga Gymnasium) to give Eau Claire the 1-0 lead. The Blugolds increased the lead at 18:24, with Jon Richards getting a rebound in the slot and pushing it past Svensson to make it 2-0.
In the third, the Yellowjackets pulled to within one when Artur Terchiyev (Kiev, Ukraine/Everest Academy) scored his second of the season, taking a shot from the left point that eluded Eau Claire goaltender Riley McVeigh. Will Blake (Champlin, Minn./Breck School) and Jordan Martin (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Vincent Massey Collegiate) assisted.
Eau Claire answered at 13:14 when Cole Paskus finished off a 2-on-1 to reinstate the two-goal lead. Nathan Dingmann scored less than a minute later to make it a three-goal game, and Derek Hammer closed out the scoring at 16:41, poking home a goal mouth rebound to make the final score 5-1.
With the results of Wednesday’s contests, there is now a four-way tie for the top spot in the WIAC, as Superior, Stout, Stevens Point and Eau Claire all sit at 2-1-0 for four points in the standings.
The same two teams were scheduled to play the second game of their series on Friday, Feb. 12, but that game was cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols. The ‘Jackets will instead play at UW-Stevens Point tonight at K.B. Willett Arena. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.