Cullen Maksimowski, LSSULakers.com
HOUGHTON, Mich.— The Lake Superior State hockey team skated its way to a 3-3 tie Saturday night with Michigan tech earning the extra Western Collegiate Hockey Association point in a shootout.
The Lakers move to 4-12-4 overall on the season with 3-8-3 record in the WCHA. The Huskies are now 9-7-5, 7-6-5.
"Our guys battled and competed hard tonight," said Lake Superior coach Damon Whitten. "I thought we had a really good energy about us tonight and I liked our compete level. The Guys left it on the table this weekend I think we can certainly build from this."
Lake State got on the board first when Brendan McKay scored his first collegiate goal at the 1:19 mark in the first period on an assist from Chase Gamelin.
Senior forward J.T. Henke scored at the 12:31 mark in the second when he sniped the puck into the net on a faceoff.
Michigan Tech's Dylan Steman, Dane Birks, and Brent Baltus scored three unanswered goals to take a, 3-2, lead before LSSU's Anthony Nellis scored with just 42 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Jake Jackson scored in the third round of the shootout to secure the extra point for the Huskies.
The Lakers finished the night with 28 shots on goal and were 0-of-1 on the power play. Tech finished with 37 shots and went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
Freshman netminder Mareks Mitens drew his second-consecutive start for Lake Superior making 34 saves on the night. Robbie Beydoun made 25 saves on the other end of the ice.
"If we play and compete like we did tonight, we'll have a really good second half," Whitten said. "We'll get rested, get back to the Sault, get a couple day of practice in before we break for the holiday and then we're going to Pittsburgh to win a hockey tournament to springboard us into the season half."
The Lakers will break from league action as they travel to Pittsburgh, Pa., to take part in the Three Rivers Classic at PPG Paints Arena Dec.29-30. The will take on host Robert Morris on Friday (7:30) and either Arizona State or Providence on Saturday. Lake State will return to Taffy Abel Arena for the new year as they play host to Bemdiji State Jan.5-6 in a WCHA series.
The LSSU Athletics After Christmas Sale will take place online Dec.26-Jan.2 allowing fans to purchase up to four tickets for one dollar each to any one of the remaining home hockey games or basketball double-headers. For more information, visit lssulakers.com.