The Blugold men’s hockey team defeated the UW-Superior Yellowjackets 5-1 on Feb. 10 at Hobbs Ice Arena.

A second game that was supposed to take place at Superior on Friday, Feb. 12 was cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols and will not be made up this season.

“I think it will be a good game tonight and I think we for sure should win,” Nathan Dingmann, a fourth year forward said hours before the game on Wednesday. 

The teams played a scoreless game until the end of the second period. The first goal was scored by Adam Parsells, a fourth-year defenseman, followed by another two minutes later from Jon Richards, a fourth-year forward.

In the third period, the Yellowjackets scored their only goal of the night, making the score 2-1. 

“I’m pretty happy with how we responded to them getting that third goal to make it 2-1,” Matt Loen, head coach said. “The teams could have gone into a prevent defense.”

The team’s response was a string of three goals scored in just over three minutes, the first by Cole Paskus, a fourth-year forward. Dingman added a goal of his own and was followed by Derek Hammer, a third-year forward. 

Riley McVeigh, a third-year goalie, stopped 15 of 16 shots for the Blugolds. Loen said McVeigh hasn’t played in a while but was the most valuable player of the game for his performance in not giving up many rebounds to the other team.

The Blugolds took a total of 34 shots on the Yellowjackets.

Loen said despite the win on Wednesday, the team still hasn’t found its “groove” yet, since players have just gotten off of a year-long hiatus from competition. The first goal was going to be a big one for whoever got it, he said, and fortunately the Blugolds scored it on a lucky bounce.

Charles Weiand, a third-year defenseman, said this is a “fast track” season with fewer practices and games. He said the team has not had enough time to build up chemistry and prepare for games as in previous seasons.

“As we continue the season and continue to practice, we will start to find our stride a little bit better,” Weiand said.

The frenzy near the end of the third period made the game a good performance, Loen said.

“It takes a lot of stress off of everybody to see it go to 3-1, 4-1, 5-1,” Loen said. “It lets us play a little more comfortably.”

Loen said some things needed cleaning up such as their power plays which looked “sloppy.” The Blugolds were 0-2 in power plays on Wednesday. 

With the cancellation of Friday’s game, the Blugolds have had more time to prepare for their next game against UW-Stout on Feb. 17.

Weiand said the team is used to things changing last second, but would love to make up the game.

“We like the competition especially since we only get 10 games and now it’s down to nine,” Weiand said. “It’s a bummer, but it is what it is.”

Plueger can be reached at [email protected].