Huskies get fourth straight Friday shutout

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BEMIDJI, Minn. – Blake Pietila earned his fourth straight Friday night shutout as No. 12 Michigan Tech defeated Bemidji State 2-0 at the Sanford Center. Blake pushed his single-season school record mark to eight shutouts and his career record to 18.

"It was the game we expected it to be," Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. "They pressure and make you make plays. Blake did what Blake does and held us in there early which allowed us to get our legs under us. We got a nice play out of Worksy to get the lead and got a nice play with their goalie out.

"The guys were resilient again. I think we did leave some performance on the table and can improve on that tomorrow night, but I give our guys a ton of credit to come out with the points."

The Huskies improved to 19-7-4 overall with the win and are now one point behind first-place Minnesota State with a 12-5-4 CCHA record. With the win, the Huskies have now beaten every team in the CCHA at least once this season.

Jack Works scored the eventual game-winning goal 6:16 into the second period. He had the puck down in the corner and walked it into the circle and ripped a wrist shot over the glove for his seventh of the season. Jake Crespi and Tristan Ashbrook assisted on the play.

Blake Pietila finished with 25 saves, stopping seven in the first, 10 in the second, and eight in the third. His biggest save was on a breakaway midway through the first period. The Beavers totaled 63 shots but missed the net on 21 attempts and the Huskies blocked 17.

Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore—who was coaching in his 800th career game—pulled Mattias Sholl for the extra attacker with 1:45 left. Jed Pietila controlled the puck in front of Blake and flipped a backhand pass up to Nick Nardella at center ice. Nardella gloved it down and made a move before whacking in his first of the season to seal the win with 1:38 left.

Tech generated 19 shots on goal and Sholl finished with 18 saves.

Neither team was whistled for a penalty. The last Michigan Tech game to not have a penalty was on October 30, 2015, when the Huskies defeated Ferris State 5-4 in overtime at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Freshman defenseman Kasper Vaharautio made his Michigan Tech debut Friday.

The Huskies and Beavers will meet for a fourth and final time this season at 7:07 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.