Huskies Upend Northern Michigan 3-1 in Series Finale
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
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Northern Michigan (2-2-2, 1-1-0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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Michigan Tech (2-2-0, 2-2-0) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Tyler Heinonen, Joel L'Esperance and Mason Blacklock all scored in a six-minute span early in the second period and goaltender Jamie Phillips made 19 saves as the Michigan Tech hockey team beat longtime rival Northern Michigan, 3-1, tonight (Oct. 24) in front of a sellout crowd of 4,466 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
The victory upped the Huskies' record to 5-1-0 in their last six games at home against Northern and marked the 11th time in 16 years Michigan Tech has opened its regular-season home schedule with a win.
"I thought we got off to a much better start. We played with more urgency, more compete and we skated better," said head coach Mel Pearson, who picked up his seventh career win against the Wildcats. "We got some energy from players who didn't play last night and overall it was a very good performance. It was a huge character win for our team and I couldn't be prouder of how the team played tonight."
With the Huskies trailing, 1-0, early in the second, Heinonen stepped out of the penalty box and started a tremendous shift – one that ended with him knotting the game on a rebound at the edge of the crease.
After a Mark Auk shot from the point was deflected in front of the net, Heinonen swooped in and batted it into the open cage at 1:26. Jake Lucchini was credited with the secondary helper on the goal, giving him his first collegiate point.
Back-to-back power-play goals – one by L'Esperance at 5:02 and the other from Blacklock at 7:39 – gave Tech all the insurance it needed in the contest. Shane Hanna started the play on L'Esperance's goal when he fed a pass to Max Vallis below the far circle. Vallis quickly settled the pass and shot the puck off Northern Michigan goalie Atte Tolvanen's pad. The rebound squirted right to L'Esperance at the backdoor for a tap in goal.
Blacklock doubled the lead when he won a draw, skated to the slot and redirected a Matt Roy shot just inside the post for his first goal as a Husky.
The Wildcats started the scoring and carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission despite Tech outshooting NMU, 18-6, in the opening frame. Tech held a 46-20 advantage in shots on goal in the contest.
L'Esperance was the lone Husky to notch a multi-point game while seven other players recorded a point.
Michigan Tech (2-2-0 overall; 2-2-0 WCHA) stays in Houghton next weekend (Oct. 23-24) for a two-game series with Ferris State. Both games will begin at 7:07 p.m. at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena and tickets are available online at BuyHuskiesTickets.com.
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