No. 17 Huskies Edged by Alaska Anchorage
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Alaska Anchorage (7-6-2 (4-4-1)) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
|
Michigan Tech (9-5-1 (8-5-0)) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
POST GAME COMMENTS | MEL PEARSON | ALEX PETAN
HOUGHTON, Mich. – Alex Petan and Tyler Heinonen scored second-period goals to help No. 17 climb back from a 1-0 deficit, but Alaska Anchorage rallied in the third to capture a 3-2 win over the Huskies in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest tonight (Dec. 4) in front of 3,314 at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
Both Heinonen and Petan extended point streaks by scoring tonight. Heinonen, who was named the WCHA Player of the Month for November, now has goals in six straight outings, while Petan has collected at least one point in three consecutive contests and has found the score sheet in seven of his last nine games overall.
"You could tell we were a little off tonight in the game," said head coach Mel Pearson. "We did have some good chance and I can't tell you we had a poor game. We have to find a way to generate and bury our chances because we were playing well enough to win."
Alaska Anchorage carried a 1-0 advantage into the first intermission despite being outshot 12-3, but Tech answered with two goals during a four-minute span midway through the second to take a 2-1 lead.
Petan knotted the game at 1-1 8:25 into the middle stanza when he buried from the top of the right circle. With the Huskies buzzing in the offensive zone, Michael Neville threw the puck low for Petan, who swooped through the corner and moved it to Cliff Watson at the point. Watson's shot attempt hit traffic in front, but the rebound landed on Petan's stick and settled just in time for him to slip a wrister into the bottom half of the net.
Then, at 12:21, Heinonen collected his WCHA-leading 10th goal of the year. Joel L'Esperance started the scoring play with a terrific individual effort at center to force a turnover. While locked up with an Anchorage defender, L'Esperance pushed the puck along the blue line to Heinonen, who skated in all-alone before firing a shot over the glove of Seawolves goaltender Olivier Mantha for a 2-1 Tech lead.
The Seawolves responded in the third with two goals to close out the 3-2 win.
Michigan Tech (9-5-1 overall; 8-5-0 WCHA) concludes its two-game series with Alaska Anchorage tomorrow (Dec. 5) at 7:07 p.m. Tickets still remain and can be purchased at the SDC Ticket Office and online at BuyHuskiesTickets.com.
NOTES: Michigan Tech outshot Alaska Anchorage 34-18 … The Huskies were 0-1 on the power play while holding the Seawolves scoreless in both of their chances on the man-advantage … The loss was the first for Tech this season when leading after two periods.
