The Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team (13-9-5, 9-6-5 WCHA) earned the weekend sweep over the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks (9-15-2, 7-12-1 WCHA) winning Friday night 5-2 and Saturday night in a nail-biter 4-3. With the sweep this past weekend, Tech also earned a sweep over Fairbanks for the regular season, as they swept Alaska up in Fairbanks earlier this year by scores of 5-4 in OT and 5-1.
On Friday, Jan. 19, the Huskies were able to get on the board as freshman Mitch Meek was able to slide the puck past the Nanook goaltender to give the Huskies the 1-0 lead, assisted by Alex Smith. With just under a minute left in the first-period sophomore and Hobey Baker candidate, Mitch Reinke received a game misconduct for checking from behind resulting in him being ejected from the game.
Alaska capitalized on the man advantage in the second period as they netted the puck past Tech goalie junior Devin Kero on the powerplay just 27 seconds into the period to tie the game at one apiece. The goaltenders were unstoppable for the rest of the second period, as neither team was able to score.
The Huskies exploded offensively during the third period as Meek would net his second of the night just two minutes into the period to give the Huskies the 2-1 lead, assisted by freshman Greyson Reitmeier and sophomore Raymond Brice. Just over ten minutes late Brice would slide the puck past the Alaska goaltender to give the Huskies the 3-1 lead, assisted by seniors Mark Auk and Dylan Steman. Fifteen seconds later Alaska pulled within one as they shot the puck in the net past Kero.
The rest of the game was all Michigan Tech, as Alaska would receive a penalty for hooking at the 13:25 mark, Tech’s Auk would sharp-shoot the puck into the net on the powerplay to put the Huskies up 4-2, assisted by Meek and Steman. Alaska pulled their goalie with just under a minute left and Tech sophomore Thomas Beretta slid the puck into the net with ease to give Tech the 5-2 win.
Kero made 29 saves on 31 shots and Tech outshot the Nanooks 42-31. Tech spent 25 minutes in the penalty box on seven penalties, but went 1-6 on the powerplay. Tech won in style in front of 3,781 fans.
“I loved our start,” Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. “When we get some time off to prepare our group and get the message across, our team responds well. We pushed the guys over the last two weeks to try to build some mental toughness. That’s been the biggest thing that has held us back this season.”
On Saturday, Jan. 20, the Nanooks struck first just a minute and 15 seconds into the game, as they buried the puck past Kero for their first lead of the weekend. Almost eight minutes later Alaska struck gold as they took the 2-0 lead, slipping the puck past Kero. The Nanooks took a penalty for elbowing with less than 30 seconds left in the period, and freshman Seamus Donohue cashed in as he put the Huskies on the board assisted by Reinke and junior Jake Lucchini.
Tech struck again in the second period as freshman Justin Misiak found the back of the net to tie the game at two apiece, assisted by Reinke and Reitmeier. Kero was a brick wall as he didn’t allow any pucks in his net during the second period. Beretta netted his second goal of the weekend at the 18:08 mark to give the Huskies their first lead of the game at 3-2, assisted by junior Jake Jackson and Steman.
Husky sophomore Gavin Gould received a penalty for tripping at the 5:16 mark, however Alaska tied up the game just eight seconds into the man advantage. The period would drag on as jitters become more intense as neither team could find the back of the net. That is until Tech senior Joel L’Esperance netted the game winner for Tech at the 18:54 mark, assisted by Auk and Brice.
“We’re chasing home ice right now and six points this weekend is big,” Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. “The teams above us also won this weekend, but the good thing for us is that we get to play those teams down the stretch.”
Kero made 18 saves on 21 shots on net, while Tech barely outshot the Nanooks 24-21. Tech was 1-3 on the powerplay, while they had six penalties for 12 minutes in the penalty box. 3,365 fans watched the Huskies sweep the Nanooks Saturday night.
The Huskies will be back in action this Friday and Saturday nights as they travel down to Big Rapids, Michigan to take on the Ferris State Bulldogs (10-17-1, 7-12-1 WCHA), the puck drops at 7:07 p.m. each night. The Bulldogs are coming off a weekend of being swept at home against Bemidji State losing 2-0 and 4-1.
