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Huskies Tie Seawolves Friday in Alaska

Huskies Tie Seawolves Friday in Alaska Play Video

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Michigan Tech and Alaska Anchorage skated to a 1-1 tie Friday (Nov. 17) at Sullivan Arena. The Seawolves earned the extra WCHA point with a 1-0 shootout win in the fifth round after the 5-on-5 and 3-on-3 overtimes.

Tech is now 5-6-3 overall and 3-5-3-1 in the WCHA. The two teams wrap up their only meeting of the season Saturday at 11:07 p.m.

"We're challenged offensively right now," Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. "I thought the guys played hard, but it was tough losing Joel early in the game.

"We were really good in the third period and got some tremendous looks at the net. We gave what we had tonight and didn't give up much on the defensive end. Packy gave us a chance. We just need to continue to work hard and try to build some confidence."

The Huskies got on the board only 2:20 into the game with a power play goal by Thomas Beretta. His shot from the top of the circle was screened out front by Brent Baltus with Keegan Ford and Jake Jackson assisting. For Beretta, it was his third of the season and seventh of his career.

UAA (1-7-3, 1-2-2-2 WCHA) evened it up with a goal on a breakaway off the stick of Austin Azurdia 15:35 into the first. Johnah Renouf and Jarrett Brown assisted.

Tech dominated in shots on goal all night, outshooting the home team 37-14. Olivia Mantha shut the door on the Huskies, stopping 13 shots in the first, five in the second, 13 in the third, and three in overtime. Patrick Munson stopped 13 of the 14 shots he faced for Tech.

Baltus had a pair of breakaways in the game. He went in on Mantha with 6:00 left in the first but his backhand shot was steered aside. In the third period, a defenseman broke up a short Baltus breakaway.

Both teams had to kill off 5-minue majors. Joel L'Esperance was shipped off 8:01 into the first and Brown with 37 seconds left in the opening period—both on checking from behind calls.

Tech was 1-for-5 on the man advantage and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.

The Huskies opened the extra session with 53 seconds of power play. Alex Smith had the best scoring chance in the frame with a one-time out front, but Mantha was there for the save.

In the 3-on-3, Jake Lucchini was open in front of the crease but his shot sailed wide with 2:27 left. Mitch Reinke went in on a breakaway under a minute later but couldn't settle a bouncing puck. Alex Gillies tried to finish off a 2-on-1 with Mark Auk but had his shot saved with 20 ticks left.

Jake Jackson, Gavin Gould, Gillies, Auk, and Reinke had attempts in the shootout. Corey Renwick buried the lone goal for the winner.

Tech is unbeaten in six straight games at Sullivan Arena and will look to keep the streak alive Saturday (Nov. 18). Fans can tune into Dirk Hembroff on Mix 93 or Pasty.net or watch the game on WCHA.tv.