This Saturday, Oct. 22, the Michigan Tech Huskies faced up against the Bemidji State Beavers. The teams ended the game with a tie of 2-2, with the Beavers coming out on top during the fifth round of the overtime shootout. The Beavers took the lead with two points until the third round where the Huskies managed to secure two power plays to end the game in a tie.
Even with the close defeat weighing on the team, there were still many different portions of the game that are worthy of being celebrated by players and audience alike. Tech coach Joe Shawhan had a few words to say in an interview after the game. “I’m proud of the effort and come back,” Shawhan stated, “I thought the crowd was dynamic tonight and all weekend. We could feel their energy. It’s not a win, but it’s a point in the standings and it’s something we can build off of.”
Several players made incredible plays in this game that pulled the game as close as it was. One of these outstanding players was number nine Kyle Kukkonen, who scored the first point for Tech during the game. This placed them in the situation to catch up in the first place with help from number 13 Logan Pietila. Kyle states in an interview following the game “after a great feed from Logan it’s obviously nice to hit the puck and put it in the net finally” and “We felt the energy in the rink during that third period and I think we just gotta bring that energy for three periods and we will be in great shape.” Kyle later tied the game as well at the 1:53 mark in the third to create the close game that we got to enjoy this Saturday.
However, as noted by several different players during the game, there is much room for improvement from the team. Jake Crespi, number 10 for the Huskies, noted the lackluster defense from the team as of late: “We knew we needed to stay together and stick to our game
plan. We hadn’t been defending well this weekend, so we needed to focus on the D-zone out” Jake responded in another interview after the game.
With this game, the Huskies reach an overall season at 2 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie. The Huskies prepare themselves for several more matches in the future, with the next game being hosted by St Lawrence for a non conference match at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena on both Friday Oct 28 and Saturday Oct 29. With the season not even being a quarter of the way through, the Huskies really need to improve if they want to win the season overall. For students who want to experience a Huskies game in the Ice Arena, a block of 750 seats is held which can be accessed for free with a valid student ID.
