Huskies win 20th game with sweep at Bemidji State

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BEMIDJI, Minn. – No. 12 Michigan Tech earned a CCHA series sweep of Bemidji State with a 3-2 victory Saturday at the Sanford Center. The Huskies had a 3-0 lead and held on late to win their fourth straight and 20th game this season, improving to 20-7-4 overall and 13-5-4 in the CCHA.

"To come in here and win two games is huge. They're a good team, and they play well on their home ice," Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. "It was a great game, and I thought we played and competed well. Blake played tremendous for us like he always does, and that's a huge win for us for a lot of reasons."

The Huskies scored a goal in each period. Logan Pietila gave Tech the lead 9:53 into the game with a 5-on-3 power play goal. Nick Nardella and Parker Saretsky set up the tic-tac-toe passing play for Logan's 10th of the season and second on the power play.

Parker Saretsky made it 2-0 with 3:55 left to play in the second period. Chris Lipe was hooked in front of the net and the referee's arm went up. The whistle hadn't blown yet and the players stalled. Tristan Ashbrook went to the corner and fed it out front to a wide-open Saretsky who scored his seventh of the season. Jack Works was also given an assist.

Marcus Pedersen made it 3-0 in favor of the Black and Gold 7:35 into the third for his first career goal. He cycled with Arvid Caderoth and fired a sharp-angled shot that trickled through the goaltender. Jed Pietila added the secondary assist.

BSU (11-12-5, 9-8-3 CCHA) scored its first goal of the weekend 43 seconds later when Jere Vaisanen blasted in a long rebound from Lleyton Roed and Will Zmolek.

The Beavers pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker with 5:07 remaining. After three icings by the Huskies, the home team drew to within one when Lleyton Roed tipped in a shot from Kaden Pickering with 3:39 left in the third.

Tech held on down the stretch only allowing three shots to get to goaltender Blake Pietila.

After no penalties were whistled on Friday, the teams combined for four infractions in the first period and seven in the game. Tech was 1-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. The Huskies haven't allowed a power-play goal in nine games and only one in the last 13 games.

BSU led in shots 39-21. Blake Pietila finished with 37 saves, making 30 saves for the eighth time this season. He had nine saves in the first, 13 in the second, and 15 in the third for his 54th career win.

Tech wraps up its home schedule next weekend with the annual Winter Carnival series. The Huskies will host Bowling Green in a total goal series for the MacInnes Trophy. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Friday and 5:07 p.m. Saturday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

The Blue Line Club will be hosting a Winter Carnival luncheon on Friday. Saturday will be Senior Day as Tristan Ashbrook, Jake Crespi, Logan Ganie, David Jankowski, Chris Lipe, Ryan O'Connell, Blake Pietila, Logan Pietila, Parker Saretsky, and Brett Thorne will be honored after the game.