HOUGHTON, Mich.- Lake Superior State fell 6-1 in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action Friday evening against Upper Peninsula rivals Michigan Tech.
The Huskies (5-6-2, 4-2-1 WCHA) opened the scoring late in the first period with a pair of goals, scored just 1:24 apart with under five minutes remaining in the period. Jake Jackson put MTU on the board with 2:42 remaining in the first period, stepping out wide past an LSSU defender and firing the goal past junior goaltender Gordon Defiel.
Moments later the Huskies scored their second goal with 1:18 remaining in the opening period. Chris Leibinger tallied his fourth goal of the season on assists from Thomas Beretta and Alex Smith.
The Huskies took the 2-0 lead into the locker room after the first 20 minutes, while outshooting the Lakers (6-3-0, 4-3-0 WCHA)by a 9-4 margin.
Tech got their third goal of the contest 3:31 into the middle period on a goal by Smith, for his second point of the game, assisted by Cliff Watson and Leibinger with his second assist of the game.
Freshman Gavin Gould scored his first career goal 2:34 into the third period to go up 4-0 before LSSU finally got on the board with their lone goal of the contest. Junior defenseman Kyle Chatham netted the Lakers' only goal, unassisted, with 7:48 left in regulation.
The Huskies added two more goals before the end of regulation, Jackson first with his second goal of the game followed by Gould's second tally, to cap the 6-1 victory.
Freshman Angus Redmond stood tall for the Huskies, making 24 saves on 25 shots by LSSU. Conversely, Defiel turned aside 24 of the Huskies' 30 shots on goal.
Game 2 of the weekend series is slated for 7:07 p.m. on Saturday evening from the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.