| 'Jackets Crushed By St. Scholastica |
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One of the greatest philosophers of our time
came up with a statement that perfectly summed up what happened to
the Yellowjackets on Friday night. It was Lawrence Peter
Berra, better known by his nickname Yogi, who coined the phrase
"this is like déjà vu all over again." Last season when the
'Jackets traveled to Mars-Lakeview Arena to play St. Scholastica,
the Saints scored three times in the first period and put the first
four on the board before the Yellowjackets were able to score.
Friday, the 'Jackets surrendered the first four goals again before
getting one of their own, falling to 2-4-1 in the conference and
7-4-1 overall thanks to a 6-3 loss to St. Scholastica.
Despite a third period rally by the Yellowjackets that made the game
respectable, this one was over well before the final buzzer sounded.
In fact, this one was essentially over just over six minutes into
the game.
The Saints opened the scoring just 1:36 into the game when Aaron
Spotts let a shot go from the slot and through a screen to make it
1-0. Just 12 seconds later it went to 2-0 when Riley Riddell
picked up a rebound near the goal mouth for his fifth goal of the
season. Minutes later the Saints made it 3-0 when Carter Davis
scored from the high slot at 6:13. At this point the 'Jackets
made the early goaltending change, as Garrett Tinkham (Fr.
Paradise, Texas) was lifted after stopping six of nine
shots. The Saints closed out the scoring in a dominant first
period when Jordan Chong converted a shorthanded two-on-one in the
final minute, scoring from the left circle on a wrist shot for his
fourth of the year. For those scoring at home, the Saints led
4-0 and outshot the 'Jackets 17-3 in the first period, clearly their
worst period of the season.
As the second period got underway, the 'Jackets looked like a
different team. They finally began to establish a forecheck
and finally got some scoring opportunities. They got on the
scoreboard thanks to a lucky bounce. Josh Kesler (Fr.
Naperville, Illinois) dumped the puck in from center ice.
It took a funny bounce off the glass, and rather than wrapping along
the boards headed for the net. Saints' goaltender Zach Kleiman
had left the goal to go behind the net and stop the puck when the
bounce happened, and sprawled to get back in the net. The
puck, however, found its way through Kleiman and got the 'Jackets
their first goal of the game. Kesler's first collegiate goal
came at 5:29 of the second period and was assisted by Casey
Dion (Fr. Colorado Springs, Colorado) and Josh
Seifert (Sr. Superior, Wisconsin).
In the third, the 'Jackets again came out with more jump than they
had in the first, but were dealt a crushing blow to any momentum
that they had begun to build when Matt Wiest (Jr. Enchant,
Alberta) was called for checking from behind. The
result was a five-minute power play for the Saints and they were
able to capitalize and regain their four goal lead. In the
final minute of the advantage, Jeremy Dawes carried out of the right
corner, patiently held the puck, skated into the slot and let a shot
go up high, scoring his fourth goal of the year at 7:38.
Jordan Baird would then make it 6-1 with his fourth goal of the year
at 10:02. The 'Jackets would make it interesting by scoring
twice more. Tyler Fletcher (Sr. Calgary, Alberta)
got a rebound in the slot and made it 6-2 just 29 seconds after the
Saints took a five-goal lead. For Fletcher, it was his
team-leading eighth goal of the season. Dion and Talon
Berlando (Jr. Drumheller, Alberta) assisted. Two
minutes later the 'Jackets made it 6-3 with another rebound goal.
This time it was Berlando scoring his fourth of the year.
Kesler got into the zone and let a shot go from the top of the right
circle. Kleiman made the save, but Berlando pounced on the
rebound and made it a three-goal game at 12:58. Thomas
Erlacher (Fr. Brunico, Italy), who returned to the lineup
after missing the last four games, also got an assist. Just a
couple minutes later the 'Jackets appeared to cut the deficit to two
goals, as Jesse Junkermeier (Jr. Minnetonka, Minnesota)
picked up a loose puck behind the Saints goal and attempted a
wraparound. The puck went in the net, but the officials and
the goal judge discussed the play and decided that the net came off
before the goal was scored and the goal was disallowed.
The silver lining for the 'Jackets, if there is one, is the fact
that the team appeared to continue fighting to get back in the game
despite the large hole they put themselves in early. The game
was fairly even with the exception of the lopsided first period, and
hopefully the solid third on Friday will allow the 'Jackets to carry
some momentum into Saturday's game.
Bryan Dalbec (So. Superior, Wisconsin) made his
season debut in relief of Tinkham, taking the loss but making 28
saves. Kleiman made 18 saves for the Saints.
The 'Jackets took four penalties for 21 minutes, while the Saints
took three for six minutes. The 'Jackets were 0-2 on the power
play while the Saints went 1-3.
The 'Jackets will close out the 2009 portion of their schedule with
game two of the series against St. Scholastica at Mars-Lakeview
Arena. Game time on Saturday night will be 7:05 p.m. and can
be heard live locally on KUWS 91.3 FM. 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. |
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