Huskies win in OT for 8th straight over NMU
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Michigan Tech (17-8-1, 7-5-0) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
|
Northern Michigan (8-15-1, 6-7-1) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
MARQUETTE, Mich. – Jake Crespi scored 2:11 into overtime to lift No. 20 Michigan Tech to a 3-2 victory at Northern Michigan Saturday (Feb. 27). The Huskies won their eighth in a row over the Wildcats, seventh straight at the Berry Events Center, and 17th game of the season.
"I give Northern Michigan a lot of credit. They were down to four defensemen late in the game and we came after them," Tech coach Joe Shawhan said. "I thought our guys played very hard. We had a slow start but we played well as a team and got better."
Crespi buried his second of the weekend after he intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, walked in on a breakaway, and fired in his fifth of the season to seal the win.
"Crespi gets another big goal for us," added Shawhan. "He's a talented young man that keeps growing for us."
The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of power-play goals on two separate 5:00 majors called against NMU.
Tommy Parrottino gave Tech the lead 8:55 into the second period when he redirected a shot from the point by Colin Swoyer. Brian Halonen added the second assist on Parrottino's fifth of the season.
Colin Swoyer added to the lead 4:01 into the second period. He controlled the puck and faked like he was going around the net before centering a shot that deflected off the goaltender and across the line. Brian Halonen and Brett Thorne assisted on Swoyer's third of the season.
NMU (8-15-1, 6-7-1 WCHA) was able to climb back into the game late in the third. Rylan Van Unen scored at 14:26 of the third as he cleaned up a rebound. Michael Van Unen and Connor Marritt and assisted.
The home team got a power play late in the game and pulled its goaltender for the extra attacker with 2:28 remaining. After the Tech penalty expired, André Ghantous tied the game with 59.3 seconds left with Michael Van Unen and Vincent de Mey earning the assists.
Shots were even at 29. NMU dominated the first 12-2, and Tech controlled much of the second with an 11-6 advantage in shots.
Blake Pietila had 27 saves for the Huskies and improved his record to 14-5-0. Rico DiMatteo stopped 26 shots for the home team. He came up big on a Brian Halonen breakaway in the first period and had a shot by Alec Broetzman hit the post in the second period.
Tech was 2-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. NMU has called for five major penalties in six games against Tech this season. The Wildcats totaled 45 penalty minutes in the series.
The Huskies wrap up the regular season at No. 3 Minnesota State next weekend.
