'Jackets Win 5-2

'Jackets Win Ugly Against Royals

You can't play your best game every night. That's just a fact of life in sports. For the 'Jackets, that was the case on Wednesday. After winning an emotional game over St. Norbert on Saturday night, the 'Jackets traveled to the Twin Cities to take on Bethel University. A weeknight game, a lack of atmosphere and an emotional downturn are only some of the things that worked against them on Wednesday, still they did what they had to do to come away with a 5-2 win over the Royals, improving to 10-1-0 on the season and extending their winning streak to eight games.

It is the longest winning streak since the 'Jackets won nine straight from November 13 through December 11, 2002. But it wasn't easy.

The 'Jackets came out flat. They had a hard time connecting on passes and didn't play with

much of a sense of urgency. The Royals had a golden opportunity to capitalize on a slow Yellowjacket start, but failed to do so. They finally broke through on a power play at 18:31 of the first period when Kyle Dynan let a shot go that beat Chad Beiswenger (Sr. Moorhead, Minnesota) high on the glove side to make it 1-0. But the lead was short-lived. Just 36 seconds later the 'Jackets came back and tied the game. Ryan Kuntz (Sr. Regina, Saskatchewan) let a shot go from the right point that was deflected home by Seth Reda (Sr. Palmer, Alaska) to tie the game. Kevin Huck (Sr. Eden Prairie, Minnesota) also assisted on the play.

In the second, the 'Jackets scored twice to stretch their lead. Reda banged home a rebound on a power play at 8:33 to make it 2-1. Talon Berlando (So. Drumheller, Alberta) and Huck assisted on the play. Reda's second goal of the game was his fourth of the season. Minutes later, it went to 3-1 when Chris Berry (Jr. Calgary, Alberta) let a shot go from the top of the left circle that eluded Bethel goaltender Aaron Damjanovich on the glove side. Eric Bausano (Sr. Laurium, Michigan) and Josh Seifert (Jr. Superior, Wisconsin) assisted on Berry's fifth of the season.

The 'Jackets put the nail in the Royals' coffin at 4:10 of the third period when Tyler Fletcher (Jr. Calgary, Alberta) stole a puck at center and carried into the offensive zone. He let a shot go from the left circle that again eluded Damjanovich, making it 4-1. The goal was unassisted. Just over a minute later, at 5:14, Eric Adams made it 4-2, beating Beiswenger on the short side. The 'Jackets closed out the scoring when Fletcher, with an assist from Kent Detlefsen (Fr. Lakeville, Minnesota) scored into an empty net to make it 5-2.

Beiswenger finished with 20 saves in the game, while Damjanovich made 31 saves. The 'Jackets took six penalties for 12 minutes while Bethel took four for eight minutes. The 'Jackets went 1-4 on the power play and Bethel was 1-6.

The 'Jackets are back at home on Saturday night to take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering in a non-conference tilt. Note the early start time of Saturday's game, which will get underway at 5:05 p.m., with the pre-game show getting underway at 4:45 p.m. You can listen to the game live locally on KUWS 91.3 FM. If you are outside the local listening area, you can tune in via the Internet at www.kuws.fm. Jon Garver will have the call.