Huskies fall in CCHA Semifinal
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Northern Michigan (21-16-0) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
|
Michigan Tech (24-10-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – No. 10 Michigan Tech lost 4-0 to Northern Michigan Saturday in the CCHA Semifinal at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. The Wildcats scored three goals in the first period and added a late empty netter.
"Northern Michigan played well and jumped on us early," Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. "You obviously need to score a goal to win a game, and we weren't able to find one."
NMU (21-16-0) took the lead 4:44 into the game, capitalizing on a Tech turnover and going in on a 2-on-1. Rylan Van Unen scored from AJ Vanderbeck.
The Wildcats added to the lead 3:01 later with a power-play goal by Andre Ghantous who made a move down by the goal line from Joey Larson and Josh Zinger.
Michael Van Unen made it 3-0 11:07 into the first with a great individual effort from deep in his defensive zone.
Blake Pietila kept the Huskies in it with a couple of saves on breakaways later in the first. He stopped Joey Larson and then AJ Vanderbeck later on the power play.
Blake stepped up again in the second period on a penalty shot by Vincent De May.
Tech (24-10-4) generated 44 shots on goal—the second-highest total this season. Jack Works hit the crossbar in the first with Logan Pietila getting six shots through and Brett Thorne and Tristan Ashbrook taking five.
"We regrouped after the first period but played pretty tight," added Shawhan. "Their goaltender didn't have to make any really big saves despite the large volume of shots we took. We had a lot of good looks at the net but we shot into him."
NMU goaltender Beni Halasz was up to the task with 10 saves in the first, 19 in the second, and 15 in the third.
Simon Kjellberg scored an empty netter with 2:00 to go from Andre Ghantous for the final tally.
Blake Pietila finished with 21 saves.
Tech was 0-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
NMU advanced to the CCHA Mason Cup Championship at Minnesota State next Saturday.
The Huskies will have to wait for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show to learn if the season continues. The NCAA bracket will be revealed on Sunday, March 19.
