Hockey Huskies Open Series vs. Huntsville with 4-2 Win

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Four different Michigan Tech players scored and goaltender Jamie Phillips made 16 saves to help the Tech hockey team beat Alabama Huntsville, 4-2, in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association matchup tonight (Nov. 6) at the Von Braun Center.

In all, 11 Huskies notched a point – including Phillips, who assisted on Mason Blacklock's third-period marker – as Tech won on the road for the 13th time in its last 18 tries.

"We found a way to win the game and get two big points, which is never easy on the road," said head coach Mel Pearson, who's Huskies are now 9-0-0 all-time against the Chargers. "We still have things we can improve and we need to manage the puck better. I thought we hung in there and our penalty killers did an excellent job.

"It was a frustrating night but at the same time we have to enjoy the victory and regroup for tomorrow because we have a chance to make this a great weekend."

Alabama Huntsville opened the scoring just 1:21 into the contest, but Tech soon answered when Joel L'Esperance buried his third of the year at 4:35. With the Huskies moving through center, Alex Gillies hit L'Esperance just inside the offensive blue line, sending him in on a partial break. L'Esperance fought off a defender, settled the puck on his forehand and beat UAH goaltender Matt Larose with a shot just inside the post.

Alex Petan put the Huskies ahead, 2-1, at the 12:03 mark when he redirected a Shane Hanna shot into the net from the top of the crease. Following a tremendous play to hold the zone on a power play, Tech worked the puck around to Hanna at the point. His quick shot from just inside the line made its way through traffic and towards the net before Petan tipped it.

Then, just 3:11 later, Brent Baltus converted on a three-on-two for Tech's first shorthanded goal of the season. A great play by CJ Eick helped the Huskies escape their own end with numbers. After Eick's initial try on the odd-man rush was denied, Baltus crashed the net and knocked in the rebound to give Michigan Tech a 3-1 advantage.

The Chargers broke through for the only goal of the middle frame to pull within one, but Blacklock sealed the victory by scoring at 13:59 of the third. With Huntsville pressuring for the tying goal, Malcolm Gould fired a shot from the slot and Larose kicked the rebound right to Blacklock to the right of the net for a tap-in goal.

Tyler Heinonen and Chris Leibinger also collected single assists for Michigan Tech, which improved to 3-0-0 when holding its opponent scoreless on the power play.

The Huskies (4-3-0 overall; 4-3-0 WCHA) and Chargers conclude their two-game WCHA series tomorrow (Nov. 7) at the Von Braun Center. Puck-drop is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. and the game can be seen live via WCHA.tv. The contest will also be broadcast live on Mix 93 and Pasty.net.

NOTES: Michigan Tech outshot UAH, 40-18 … The Huskies scored once on six power-play tries and help the Chargers scoreless on all five of their chances with the man-advantage … Phillip's assist was the first by a Tech goaltender since he had a helper against Notre Dame on Oct. 20, 2013.