The Yellowjackets of Wisconsin-Superior defeated the host Soaring Eagles of Elmira 4-3 on Friday in a East-West matchup.
The first period opened with a quick Superior goal only seven seconds into the first power play of the game. Josh Liebenow took a nice feed from Bryan Grycan right off the faceoff and slapped home the puck for the first goal of the game at the 1:27 mark.
From there Superior kept the pressure on with several scoring chances. Neither team could gain sustained pressure but Superior counter-attacked well from a neutral-zone trap.
Elmira evened the score on a failed tip in by Jason Silverthorn. Mike Clarke took a slap shot from the point that Silverthorn tried to tip in. Silverthorn missed the puck with his stick and it hit him in the wrist and bounced past Superior goalie Nathan Ziemski.
The Soaring Eagles missed a golden opportunity to pull ahead with a five-on-three power play for 1:17. They had plenty of chances but couldn’t find the back of the net.
The Yellowjackets capped the first-period scoring with a rebound goal by Rob Ziemmer. Assistant captain Allen Hasbargen snapped a shot that Elmira goalie Rob Ligas stopped, but Ziemmer was left all alone on the left side for the easy rebound goal.
The second period started with Superior on the penalty kill. This set the tone for the rest of the period. Superior had a great kill, outshooting the Eagles 3-0.
Superior broke through to take a 3-1 lead. Grycan tallied the third Superior goal on an Elmira turnover at its blue line. Ligas managed to get a piece of the shot but the puck trickled in.
Elmira pulled to within a goal with a neat power-play goal to make it 3-2. Tic-tac-toe passing by the Elmira forwards left Ziemski sprawled out with no way of stopping freshman Pierre Rivard’s wrister.
Superior began the third where they left off the second, controlling play. The Yellowjackets managed to get some cycling down low in the Elmira zone and it paid off with a goal to make it 4-2.
Kris Wilson scored on his own rebound. Ligas stopped two shots from point-blank range but couldn’t get the third as Wilson slipped one through the five hole.
