Lake Superior Beats, Ties Michigan Tech In Openers

These stories, photos are courtesy of Michigan Tech Athletics. Photos also courtesy of LSSU Sports Information.

SUNDAY GAME RECAP

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Michigan Tech fell 4-1 at Lake Superior State Sunday (Nov. 22) afternoon at Taffy Abel Arena. Eric Gotz scored for the Huskies to tie the game before three third period goals by the Lakers, including a pair in the final 2:14.

"It's disappointing," Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. "They played better with the game on the line. This is a base point for us to go with and something for us to work off of. We got some work to do, but the good news is we get to play them again."

Down by one entering the second period, the Huskies capitalized on their third power play of the game. Trenton Bliss fed the puck off the wall in front of the bench to an open Gotz. He walked in and fired a wrist shot over the glove of Mareks Mitens to score the first goal of the season for the Huskies. Brenden Datema added the second assist.

Later in the period, Tommy Parrottino had a chance for the go-ahead goal with a shorthanded partial breakaway chance, but he couldn't corral a bouncing puck.

Jack Jeffers scored the game-winning goal for LSSU 7:00 into the third period when he caught a pass right in front of the net and slipped it under his former teammate at Alabama Huntsville, Mark Sinclair. Brandon Puricelli and Will Riedell assisted.

Carson Bantle almost tied it up with 3:00 remaining when he was open in the slot with time and space, but a Laker defenseman dove in front of the shot.

Ashton Calder then made it a two-goal lead for the home team with a highlight-reel goal with 2:14 left in the third. Pete Veillette assisted on the breakaway.

Veillette then scored an empty-net tally with nine seconds left to seal the win. Calder and Louis Boudon assisted.

Hampus Eriksson scored the first goal of the series 12:20 into the first as he put in a rebound. Miroslav Mucha and Yuki Miura assisted on the play.

LSSU outshot Tech 25-21. Sinclair had 21 saves for the second night in a row for the Huskies. Mitens had 13 saves in the first two periods for the Lakers, while Seth Eisele got the win in the third when he stopped all seven shots he saw.

Tech was 1-for-3 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill after the teams combined for four penalties.

FRIDAY GAME RECAP

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The 2020-21 Michigan Tech hockey team began with a scoreless tie at Lake Superior State Saturday (Nov. 21) at Taffy Abel Arena. Two veteran goaltenders kept the puck out of their respective nets for 65:00.

Mark Sinclair made his first start between the pipes in the Black and Gold and stopped all 21 shots he faced to pick up his fourth career collegiate shutout. His last shutout was February 14, 2020, also at LSSU in a scoreless tie when he was with Alabama Huntsville.

"Maybe it's being closer to home in Ontario," Sinclair said about his performance. "I don't know what it is, but I've always liked playing in that arena. It's the first game and I wanted to have a good game right off the bat. I thought at times I got a little sloppy and could've controlled a few rebounds better but overall I think it went pretty well.

"I didn't see much traffic all night. I think the guys did a real good job in front of me letting me see pucks and for the most part, everything stayed outside so that helped."

The Huskies outshot the Lakers 28-21 and controlled the play for most of the second half of the game.

"I was happy with the way the guys played," Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. "I thought we got better as the game went on and played our best in the third period.

"Sinclair played a very good game for us. I think we got a really good goaltender there and both goalies played well tonight."

Tech had plenty of chances in the third period, looking for the go-ahead goal. Alec Broetzman walked in from the blue line with plenty of space, but a defenseman recovered to tip a wrist shot high. Jake Crespi wristed a loose puck from the faceoff dot that went just wide at the halfway point of the period.

The Huskies were whistled for a penalty with 4:56 remaining in the third but came out of it with the best scoring chance when Broetzman and Logan Pietila went in on a shorthanded 2-on-1. The shot by Pietila was tipped wide.

The NCAA adjusted overtime for this year to 5:00 of 3-on-3. Trenton Bliss and Tommy Parrottino both had partial breakaways that were saved as the Huskies outshot LSSU 3-1 in the extra session.

LSSU won a meaningless three-round shootout after the game. Logan Pietila scored on Tech's second chance. Yuki Miura and Ashton Calder scored for the Lakers. Parrottino and Bliss missed their chances for the Huskies.

Freshmen Carson Bantle, Arvid Caderoth, and Brett Thorne made their Michigan Tech debuts.

"I thought our freshmen did a really good job," added Shawhan. "Carson and Arvid played hard upfront and created some chances. Brett is a tremendous player and had a lot of poise on the blue line, and we were even able to get him out there on the 3-on-3."

Sinclair stopped seven shots in each of the first two periods, six in the third, and one in overtime.

"The extended preseason probably helped me," added Sinclair. "Obviously, you don't want to be taking that much time off and would rather be playing games, but I was able to adjust to my new teammates, and they've been very welcoming since I got here."

The teams combined for only three minor penalties.

Tech's last scoreless tie was on November 10, 2006, against Minnesota Duluth. The last time Tech had a tie in the season opener was October 6, 2000, against Northern Michigan (3-3).

Tech and LSSU will wrap up the non-conference series at 3:07 p.m. on Sunday.