Huskies sweep No. 13 Wisconsin at Kohl Center
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Michigan Tech (2-0-0) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
|
Wisconsin (0-2-0) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
MADISON, Wis. – Michigan Tech earned a non-conference sweep at No. 13 Wisconsin with a 5-1 victory Saturday (Oct. 9) at the Kohl Center. Five different Huskies scored as Tech swept the Badgers in Madison for the first time since January 1974.
"I thought the guys played really well," Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. "I was happy with the way we played in the fourth period on the weekend, the first period tonight, by scoring three. I was happy with the third period also. We controlled play and kept everything to the outside. The one goal they got was pretty fluky."
The Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and did all of their scoring in the opening 23:00 of the game.
Co-Captain Trenton Bliss scored his first of the season with a highlight-reel goal 11:57 into the game on the power play. He dragged the puck past his defender and sniped in his 31st career goal from the slot with Colin Swoyer and Tommy Parrottino assisting.
The other captain, Alec Brotzman, added to the lead when he carried the puck into the zone, cut to the center of the ice, and wristed in his second of the weekend at 15:41 of the first. Nick Nardella and Eric Gotz were credited with the assists on Broetzman's 39th career tally.
Tyrone Bronte scored his first goal in a Michigan Tech uniform with a power-play marker with 22 seconds left in the first. He fired a wrist shot into the top corner of the net from the top of the circle from Brett Thorne and Brian Halonen.
Parker Saretsky made it 4-0 Huskies 1:21 into the second period when he cleaned up a loose puck in the crease. Halonen and Nardella each picked up their second assists of the game as Saretsky scored his sixth career goal.
Logan Pietila buried his third of the night 89 seconds later to put the Huskies up by five. Broetzman and Pietila went in on a 2-on-2. After beating his defender and catching a pass from Broetzman, Pietila made a move on the goaltender and slid in his 11th career goal. Gotz had the secondary assist for his second point of the game.
Wisconsin (0-2) scored the only goal of the third when Dominick Mersch found the back of the net from Caden Brown and Corson Ceulemans.
Blake Pietila made 21 saves for his 16th win. The Badgers played three goaltenders. Jared Moe started the game and stopped 12-of-16 shots. Cameron Rowe had 11 saves on 12 shots, and Ben Garrity saw action in the final 3:15.
Tech was 2-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
"I'm always thankful to the great people that support us wherever we go," added Shawhan after a large contingent of Michigan Tech fans attended the series and made their voices heard. "That was big for the young guys who've never seen how passionate our fan base is.
"It's a good start to the season and now we have to get ready for Notre Dame.
The Huskies play their home opener next weekend as No. 19 Notre Dame comes to the MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Friday (Oct. 15). The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Tech then hosts the USA Hockey National Team Development Program on Saturday (Oct. 16) at 6:07 p.m.
