| 'Jackets Fall In Stevens Point |
| |
Saturday at K.B. Willett Arena, the 'Jackets
lost their second one-goal game of the season. And all it took
was 18 seconds. The Pointers scored a pair of goals in a span
of 18 seconds in the first period on their way to a 2-1 win, halting
the Yellowjackets' unbeaten streak at eight games.
The loss was particularly painful because two players -
Chris Wilson (Sr. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) and
Tom Budziakowski (So. Toronto, Ontario) received game
disqualification penalties in an altercation at the end of the game,
meaning that they will not be available for the next game, which is
Friday night against St. Scholastica. The Pointers also lost
two players in the melee.
The Pointers opened the scoring at 7:39 of the first period when Nic
Polaski converted on the power play to make it 1-0. Polaski
walked off the left wing boards and walked into the slot, letting a
wrist shot go that beat Garrett Tinkham (Fr. Paradis, Texas)
high on the stick side. The lead went to 2-0 at 7:57
when Luke Nesper picked up a rebound to the right of the goal and
shoveled it home for his second of the year.
The 'Jackets thought they got on the board in the second period when
Wilson, from a bad angle, thought he snuck the puck inside the post
to make it 2-1. The team celebrated, but the goal light never
came on and the referee never signaled that it was a goal.
After a short conference between the officials and the goal judge,
the goal was waved off and the score remained 2-0. Wilson
would eventually get on the board later in the period, at 18:40,
scoring on the power play with a one-timer from the bottom of the
right circle to make it 2-1. Wilson's sixth goal of the year
was assisted by Braden Desmet (Sr. Strathmore, Alberta).
In the third, the two teams each had six shots on goal, but there
was no further scoring. After the final buzzer, the teams came
together at the Stevens Point blue line and several fights broke
out. In the end, however, just two players from each team were
penalized. The Yellowjackets took 11 penalties in the game for
44 minutes. Stevens Point took 13 penalties for 48 minutes.
The 'Jackets went 1-9 on the power play and the Pointers went 1-7.
Tinkham finished the game with 19 saves, including a couple of
spectacular stops later in the third period. Thomas Speer made
30 saves in picking up his first win of the season for the Pointers.
The 'Jackets return to action for their final two games before the
Christmas break this weekend when they visit St. Scholastica.
The Saints split a pair of games at St. Norbert last weekend.
Game time on Friday is 7:05 p.m. and can be heard live locally on
KUWS 91.3 FM, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. If
you are outside the local listening area, you can tune in on the
Internet at www.ifan.tv. Jon
Garver will have the call. |
|