No. 14 Tech Falls to Bemidji State 3-0
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Michigan Tech (16-8-5; 13-7-3 WCHA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Bemidji State (14-12-5; 9-10-4 WCHA) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
BEMIDJI, Minn. – Senior goaltender Jamie Phillips made 22 saves in net for No. 14 Michigan Tech but the Huskies fell to Bemidji State 3-0 tonight (Feb. 19) in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association matchup at Sanford Center.
The loss ends Tech's eight-game unbeaten streak and marked its first loss of the 2016 calendar year. Huskies opened 2016 on a 5-0-3 run.
"It wasn't one of our best efforts," said head coach Mel Pearson, who had led the Huskies on a 10-game unbeaten run vs. Bemidji State entering the contest. "We didn't play with a lot of urgency or intensity. You could sense that in practice leading up to the weekend and sometimes it's hard to relay that to the players.
"That being said, Bemidji State played well and didn't give us much at all. If we could have put one in maybe it would have given us some momentum but we have to be better tomorrow and we will be."
The teams struggled to generate offense throughout the contest but Bemidji State found a way to open the scoring 19:31 into the first.
Neither team scored in the middle frame and the Beavers sealed the victory with a pair of goals – one on a 130-foot shot into an empty net – in the third period. The Huskies controlled play in the final stanza and outshot Bemidji State 12-6 in the frame but couldn't muster a comeback.
Michigan Tech's Max Vallis led all Huskies with four shots on net, including a breakaway effort where Bemidji State goaltender Michael Bitzer found a way to get a shoulder on Vallis' hard wrister from between the circles.
Vallis and Joel L'Esperance had perhaps Tech's best scoring chances on back-to-back golden looks in the second period, but L'Esperance's bid caught the iron before Vallis' try at the rebound sailed just wide.
Michigan Tech (16-8-5 overall; 13-7-3 WCHA) and Bemidji State wrap up their two-game WCHA series tomorrow (Feb. 20) at 8:07 p.m. ET. The game can be seen live on WCHA.tv or heard on Mix 93 FM and Pasty.net.
NOTES: Michigan Tech outshot the Beavers 26-25 … The Huskies were 0-3 on the power play while Bemidji State connected for one power-play goal in three tries … Matt Roy had a game-high three blocked shots … The shutout loss was the first time Michigan Tech has failed to find the back of the net since a March 7, 2014, when the Huskies lost to Minnesota State 3-0 … The Huskies are now 3-1-3 when wearing cream jerseys in 2015-16.