Northland Men's Hockey started the WIAC playoffs with a bang on Friday night in Superior, Wisconsin. Playing at UW-Superior, the 6-seed Jacks fell behind after the first period before rallying back to secure the victory 3-1, and take the first game of the two-game series.

Box Score

The Northland College Men's Hockey program opened the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament on Friday night. The 6-seed Jacks had to travel to the 3-seed Yellowjackets of UW-Superior for the opener of a two-game series. The Jackets swept the season series and hadn't lost to Northland outright since the 2018-19 season. That recent history didn't seem to bother the Jacks, as they were able to win the game with three unanswered goals. The win marks the program's first playoff win since joining the WIAC in 2019. 

The Yellowjackets scored the lone goal of the first period to jump out to the early lead in the game's 17th minute. Superior narrowly out-shot the Jacks 9-7 in the first. Chris Curr got the nod in net for Northland. He was able to make eight saves, including three while the Yellowjackets were on their first power-play. The Jacks spent six minutes with the man-advantage in the opening stanza, but were only able to get one shot on goal. Neither team was able to find the net on the power-play in the game.

Northland was able to tie things up in the second period. Near the halfway mark in the period Jack Craycroft was able to score his first goal of the season to even the score. Luke Hartge and Max Collette picked up assists on the play. Curr was able to tally eleven more saves in the perfect second, as the teams went to the locker rooms for the second intermission.

The LumberJacks broke the tie less than seven minutes into the final period when Brendan Charlton scored his first goal of the season. Nine minutes later Brock Wiemer scored his team-leading sixth goal to give the LumberJacks some added insurance. At that point it was up to Curr and the defense to withstand an all out effort from the Superior skaters to put the game away. Curr managed another clean sheet to record 17 more saves, giving him 36 for the game. 

The LumberJacks will return to Superior tomorrow as the two teams wrap up the opening round of the WIAC tournament. Another win will send Northland to the next round. A loss will force the NCAA postseason tiebreaking minigame to be played immediately following the conclusion of game 2.

Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 14 varsity sports and compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, Midwest Lacrosse Conference and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.