College men’s hockey: Yellowjackets down Saints, in a pinch

St. Scholastica’s Sam Fuss (9) kicks at the puck as his stick is held back by UW-Superior’s Levi Cudmore (12) in the first period of the game at Wessman Arena on Wednesday evening, Jan. 26, 2022, in Superior.

By Jon Nowacki

January 26, 2022 at 10:49 PM

SUPERIOR — Wisconsin-Superior men’s hockey Rich McKenna called interim St. Scholastica coach Dave Williams about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, asking if the Saints would be interested in playing a game Wednesday.

Wiliams said, “I’m cool with it, but let me talk to my administration.”

Both coaches started working the phones, saying, “Can we make it happen?”

Yeah, they could.

Wisconsin-Superior scored two goals in the third period to down St. Scholastica 4-3 in a nonconference game Wednesday at Wessman Arena. Only 132 fans were on hand for the short-notice makeup game, but what do you expect?

“Kudos to St. Scholastica, and kudos to our athletic department and our administration for finding ways to make things happen,” McKenna said. “It’s not the norm but it’s becoming it, so to have that flexibility and support from your school helps out a lot.”

Freshman Reed Stark of Suffern, New York, not far from McKenna’s hometown, scored the game-winner at 3:06 in the third on a feed from Coltyn Bates.

“I got the pass from Batesy up top, and Coach McKenna has been telling me to shoot more, and I kind of got a lucky bounce right back to me,” Stark said. “I didn’t even know it went in until D.J. (Dylan Johnson of Cloquet) was yelling at me.”

The teams were originally scheduled to play Jan. 14 in Superior but COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc with the scheduling.

Have team, will travel, will play, so be ready. Welcome to the COVID era.

“Things are kind of getting crazy now again,” Stark said. “I’m new to this, but the guys who were here last year have been filling me in. It’s just next man up.”

UWS (12-5-2) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, including the longest goal in history by Artur Terchiyev after the horn got stuck, sounding for at least three minutes as the players all stood around wondering what was going on.

St. Scholastica (6-7-2) then scored three unanswered goals by Michael Talbot, Tyler Hinterser and Arkhip Ledenkov, with the first of those two goals being on the power play.

“We were kind of having to play Scholastica and the referees, too. That was kind of the motto, we have to beat everybody in the building tonight,” Stark said, drawing a chuckle. “You can laugh, but that’s just how it was. We sat on the bench, OK, that’s how it’s going to be.”

As is the Yellowjackets’ penchant, they can score in bunches. UWS came out swinging in the third period with goals by Charles Martin and Stark and junior goal Nick Althaus did the rest, with seven of his 21 saves in the third period, including a pair that were his best of the night, stopping point-blank CSS attempts.

While the Saints didn’t get the win in the rivalry they wanted, that was a competitive hockey game against a very good team.

Williams admitted it was tough early on, taking over the reins on short notice, but CSS appears to be in good shape. They just need to start better.

“It was tough, it was eye-opening for us,” Williams said. “We’ve run into this problem a lot this year. We have a young group, and we sometimes have trouble dealing with adversity, but we had a good chat in there (the locker room). I think we kind of nailed it on the head on what we have to do better. At the end of the day it just comes down to accountability.”

UWS will not play until 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, at Wisconsin-Stevens Point as this weekend’s series with the Pointers was called off due to COVID-19 protocols.

CSS will play at Concordia-Moorhead at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28.

At least that’s the way it’s scheduled — for now.

“It takes everybody to make a game like this happen,” McKenna said. “It takes personnel, the stat crew, the goal judges, to get a game in. We wouldn’t do it with half effort, because that’s not the way we operate. Everyone has to be on board.”

St. Scholastica 1-2-0—3

Wisconsin-Superior 2-0-2—4

First period — 1. UWS, Artur Terchiyev (Reed Stark, Coltyn Bates), 4:30; 2. UWS, Zach Bannister, 11:19; 3. CSS, Michael Talbot (Arkhip Ledenkov, Sam Fuss), 17:29 (pp).

Second period — 4. CSS, Tyler Hinterser (Danylo Sukhonos), 10:16 (pp); 5. CSS, A. Ledenkov (Filimon Ledenkov, Hinterser), 16:18.

Third period — 6. UWS, Charles Martin (Jordan Martin, MacGregor Sinclair), 1:06; 7. UWS, Reed Stark (Coltyn Bates, Dylan Johnson), 3:06.

Saves — Jack Bostedt, CSS, 26; Nick Althaus, UWS, 21.

A first period shot from St. Scholastica’s Michael Talbot, not pictured, gets past UW-Superior goalie Nick Althaus (33) at Wessman Arena on Wednesday evening, Jan. 26, 2022, in Superior.

UW-Superior’s Troy Quinn (4) keeps possession of the puck away from St. Scholastica’s Tyler Hinterser (2) and Filimon Ledenkov (71) in the second period of the game at Wessman Arena on Wednesday evening, Jan. 26, 2022, in Superior.

A wrap around shot from UW-Superior’s Chad Lopez (21) gets through the legs of St. Scholastica goalie Jack Bostedt (31) but doesn’t cross the goal line — A wraparound shot from UW-Superior’s Chad Lopez (21) gets through the legs of St. Scholastica goalie Jack Bostedt (31) but doesn’t cross the goal line in the second period of the game at Wessman Arena on Wednesday evening, Jan. 26, 2022, in Superior.

UW-Superior’s Reed Stark (7) gets knocked off his feet by St. Scholastica’s Alec Severson (5) in the second period of the game at Wessman Arena on Wednesday evening, Jan. 26, 2022, in Superior.

By Jon Nowacki

Jon Nowacki joined the News Tribune in August 1998 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Stephen, Minnesota, in the northwest corner of the state, where he was actively involved in school and sports and was a proud member of the Tigers’ 1992 state championship nine-man football team.

After graduating in 1993, Nowacki majored in print journalism at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, serving as editor of the college paper, “The Aquin,” and graduating with honors in December 1997. He worked with the Associated Press during the “tobacco trial” of 1998, leading to the industry’s historic $206 billion settlement, before moving to Duluth.

Nowacki started as a prep reporter for the News Tribune before moving onto the college ranks, with an emphasis on Minnesota Duluth football, including coverage of the Bulldogs’ NCAA Division II championships in 2008 and 2010.

Nowacki continues to focus on college sports while filling in as a backup on preps, especially at tournament time. He covers the Duluth Huskies baseball team and auto racing in the summer. When time allows, he also writes an offbeat and lighthearted food column entitled “The Taco Stand,” a reference to the “Taco Jon” nickname given to him by his older brother when he was a teenager that stuck with him through college. He has a teenage daughter, Emma.

Nowacki can be reached at jnowacki@duluthnews.com or (218) 380-7027. Follow him on Twitter @TacoJon1.