The Michigan Tech men’s hockey team met with the St. Thomas Tommies on Nov. 28 and 29 for a CCHA series matchup. Both games were a showcase of each team’s strengths, but the Huskies fell short both nights.
The Friday night game started with a bang, with the Huskies taking a 2-0 lead in the second period. St. Thomas came back with 2 goals to end the period in a 2-2 tie. Stiven Saardarian scored his second of the night early in the third period to give the Huskies a lead again, but Lucas Van Vliet scored for the Tommies with 1.2 seconds left in the third. After a scoreless overtime, the Huskies fell in the shootout. The Tommies walked about with 2 CCHA points, and the Huskies walked away with 1. Goals for the Huskies were scored by Stiven Sardarian (x2), and Reid Andresen. Lucas Wahlin, a forward for St. Thomas, was assessed a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for slew footing. When sharing his thoughts on the game as a whole, Sardarian shared that “it was a hard game, I think when we play against St. Thomas, we know it’s a lot of transitions, a really quick game.”
A similar fight on Saturday, the Huskies opened up scoring with an early second-period goal by Kalem Parker. This was followed by a St. Thomas power play goal, and then a short-handed goal by the Tommies, giving them a 2-1 lead. In a post-game press conference, head coach Bill Muckalt described the shorthanded goal as a “catastrophic turnover that ended up being the difference in the game.” At the end of the second period, Jack Anderson took a 5-minute major for roughing and a game misconduct for headbutting. Despite their efforts, the Huskies were unable to tie up the game, resulting in a 2-1 loss.
The Huskies won’t be back at the Mac until after winter break, when they face Minnesota State on Jan. 16 and 17.
