Green Knights, Yellowjackets Fight to 2-2 Stalemate

From Sports Information Director, January 30, 2009 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

GREEN BAY - Eric Bausano's goal with 8 minutes 11 seconds remaining in the third period was the equalizer as St. Norbert College and UW-Superior battled to a 2-2 tie in a Northern Collegiate Hockey Association game.

UW-Superior, which is in first place in NCHA and ranked third by USCHO.com's Division III poll, is 16-2-3 overall and 7-1-2 in the NCHA. St. Norbert, ranked fifth nationally, fell to fourth place in the NCHA at 6-3-1 and is 15-5-1 overall.

St. Norbert took the early lead with a late first-period goal by Shane Wheeler. With 46 seconds left in the period, Wheeler knocked in a rebound off a Nick Tabisz shot for his eighth goal of the season. Matt Boyd also assisted on the marker.

Superior evened the game at 16:19 of the second period, five seconds after a Yellowjackets power play expired. A Rob Turville shot was deflected off a St. Norbert defenseman to a wide open Bausano, who scored his fourth goal of the season.

Boyd put St. Norbert ahead 2-1 after a wild 30-second flurry of action. The puck was behind the net and Boyd skated to the nearest post and poked a wraparound past Superior goaltender Chad Beiswenger with 16 minutes left in the game.

The Yellowjackets evened the game with 7:11 left when Bausano beat St. Norbert goaltender Blake Bashor backdoor.

The Green Knights had several good looks on a power play midway through the third period and couldn't score. St. Norbert defenseman Sam Tikka had the best scoring chance of overtime on a drive from the high point but was turned away with 20 seconds left.

St. Norbert held a 34-22 shots-on-goal advantage, including a 24-13 edge in the second and third periods combined. Both teams were 0-for-5 on the power play, with St. Norbert coming up empty on four first-period power-play chances.

Bashor made 20 saves for St. Norbert, while Beiswenger made 32 saves for the Yellowjackets.