SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Taking on the Seawolves of the University of Alaska-Anchorage, the Lake Superior State hockey team snapped a three game skid with a 3-2 overtime win. Max Humitz of Lake Superior came up big for the Lakers in the extra session, securing the victory and 3 critical points in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) standings.
The Seawolves (0-6-1, 0-1-0 WCHA) entered the game winless on the season. Anchorage had not yet played a league game, although they did play conference rival Alaska-Fairbanks in a non-conference set.
The first period saw no scoring. Lake Superior (2-5-2, 1-1-1 WCHA) outshot the Seawolves 11-8 in the opening session, but Anchorage netminder Olivier Mantha matched zeroes with Lakers goalie Mareks Mitens thru the first 20 minutes.
Alaska-Anchorage got on the board first when Nicolas Erb-Ekholm converted on a power play opportunity just 30 seconds into the second period, as Lake Superior defenseman Matt McArdle was serving a holding penalty.
Lake Superior tied the game with 3:04 remaining in the second period, when junior forward Anthony Nellis notched his fourth goal of the season. Nellis' goal sent the teams back to the locker room deadlocked at one.
Early in the third period, the Lakers took the lead when freshman defenseman William Riedell scored on a power play. Riedell's goal, the first of his Laker career, came just 0:08 into the power play.
Alaska-Anchorage managed to tie things up with another power play goal. While Laker defenseman Tyler Anderson was off for high sticking, the Seawolves' Cameron Trott beat Mitens, making the score 2 all with 6:19 left to play.
Lake Superior had a golden chance to win the game in regulation, when Anchorage's Eric Sinclair took a penalty for holding with 2:31 left to play. While Mantha and the Seawolf defense kept the puck out of the net, the Lakers were awarded another power play one second before the penalty to Sinclair was set to expire. Nick Nolan of the Seawolves took his third penalty of the night with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. Alaska-Anchorage managed to kill that penalty also, but Lake Superior did not let go of the momentum as overtime wore on.
Finally, after being turned aside 4 times in overtime, the Lakers found the back of the net. Set up by senior forward J.T. Henke and sophomore forward Brayden Gelsinger, Humitz put the puck over the right pad of Mantha, earning his 5th goal of the season, and securing a 3-2 win for the Lakers.
In net, Mitens stopped 24 of 26 shots. Mantha, his Seawolf counterpart, made 31 stops on 34 shots.
Lake Superior went 1 for 4 on the power play, while Alaska-Anchorage was 2 for 4. The Seawolves currently have a 15.6 power play percentage, while the Lakers sport a 31.3% in that category.
Both teams will face each other again tomorrow, November 4th, as they wrap up their two game set. Puck drop is at 7:07 p.m. Tickets are available at the Norris Center Ticket Office and online at lssulakers.com/tickets.
Following the Saturday game against the Seawolves, the Soo Blue Liners will be honoring the parents of the team members as a part of Parents Weekend. The event is open to the public, and will be held in the upstairs of the Norris Center.