No. 18 Lakers Extend Unbeaten Streak to Eight Games with 1-1 Tie Against Chargers

brendan mckay

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – No. 18 Lake Superior State hockey and the University of Alabama in Huntsville battled to a 1-1 tie in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association matchup on Saturday night at Taffy Abel Arena. The Chargers claimed the extra WCHA point in a shootout after neither team scored in two overtime periods, but the game goes down as a tie on each team's record.

With the tie, Lake Superior State extended its unbeaten streak, which began with a 4-1 win at Alaska on Dec. 7, to eight games. The unbeaten streak is the longest for the Lakers since the 2009-10 campaign. 

Lake Superior State (14-6-2, 9-5-2-0 WCHA) and Alabama Huntsville (4-19-1, 4-11-1-1) were scoreless throughout the first two periods. The Lakers outshot the Chargers in both frames — 10-5 and 15-11, respectively. 

Alabama Huntsville broke the scoring deadlock with a power-play goal 10:28 into the third period. Lake State tied it up 1-1 on junior center Brendan McKay's second goal of the season, assisted by junior winger Max Humitz and sophomore defenseman Lukas Kaelble, at the 18:03 mark. Shots in the third period were 11-6 in favor of the Lakers.

The teams were scoreless in the first overtime frame (played 5-on-5) and went into a second overtime period, this time 3-on-3. Neither team found the back of the net during overtime and then proceeded to a sudden-death shootout. Senior winger Anthony Nellis and freshman winger Pete Veillette were both scoreless on their shootout attempts, and the Chargers capitalized on their second shot to win the shootout and pick up the extra point in the WCHA standings.

Senior Nick Kossoff (11-2-2) saved 29-of-30 shots faced in goal for LSSU. Mark Sinclair backstopped the Chargers, stopping 37 of his 38 shots faced.

Alabama Huntsville was 1-for-4 on the man advantage, while Lake Superior State was 0-for-4.

Humitz extended his point streak to five games. Over that span, he has tallied five goals and six assists for 11 points.

Kaelble leads the Lakers, and is second in the WCHA, with 17 assists this season.

The Lakers' next action is on the road against No. 7/8 Minnesota State on Jan. 18-19. Lake State returns home Jan. 25-26 to face Bemidji State. On Friday, Jan. 25, Laker Hockey will host the ninth annual 'White Out' domestic and sexual violence awareness night, in partnership with the Diane Peppler Center and the Sexual Violence Prevention Team of the Eastern Upper Peninsula. The first 1,000 fans to enter Taffy Abel Arena will receive a free shirt to wear at the game. Tickets may be purchased at the Norris Center Ticket Office or online. For additional ticket information, call (906) 635-2602.

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Listen to head coach Damon Whitten's postgame interview below.

More to come...