Huskies rout Seawolves at MacInnes
Courtesy of MTU Athletics
HOUGHTON, Mich. — The Michigan Tech hockey team claimed the John MacInnes Cup as Winter Carnival Champions for the first time since 2010 with a 6-1 victory over Alaska Anchorage today and 10-6 advantage in total goals on the weekend. Milos Gordic, who had two goals and two assists in the series, was named Winter Carnival most valuable player.
Similar to last night’s game, the Huskies (9-14-4, 6-12-4 WCHA) jumped out to an early lead. Unlike Friday where UAA scored three late goals, Tech was able to extend the margin late in the game tonight and put it away.
“I’m really proud of how the guys bounced back,” said head coach Mel Pearson. “It was a tough loss last night. To come back like we did showed a lot of resiliency. It’s hard to find a guy in the lineup who didn’t have a good night.”
Twelve different Huskies had points in the game. Five of the six goals were scored by freshmen including two who tallied their first career goals.
Walker Hyland was one of the two. His shot from the point on the power play 7:57 into the game put the hosts on top 1-0. Fellow freshman Malcolm Gould added another goal little more than one minute later as he put home a rebound of a Blake Pietila shot.
Gordic also scored on a rebound in the first period, sending the hosts into the locker room at the first intermission with a 3-0 lead.
Alaska Anchorage (4-17-7, 2-16-6 WCHA) gained some life when Scott Allen scored midway through the second. Tech netminder Pheonix Copley‘s clearing attempt hit the referee and found its way to Allen’s stick.
But that would be all the Seawolves would get. Copley slammed the door, and Tech added two more goals in the period.
David Johnstone made a nice pass to Alex Petan who was wide open on the back door at the 17:14 mark. Rookie C.J. Eick recorded his first career marker 56 seconds later as Dennis Rix passed it into the high slot to a streaking Eick who buried it low blocker side.
Petan wrapped up the scoring midway through the third period with a power-play goal off a nice feed from Ryan Furne.
Copley finished with 21 saves in 50:44 of work. He was replaced in net for the final 9:16 by freshman Jamie Phillips, who made saves on the three shots he saw.
UAA used both of its goaltenders for the second straight night. Rob Gunderson allowed three goals on 13 shots in the first. Chris Kamal played the final 40 minutes and surrendered three goals on 30 shots.
Tech finished 4-of-7 on the power play on the weekend after a 2-for-5 effort tonight. The Seawolves did not convert on either of their chances.
Michigan Tech, which improved to 5-4-1 since Christmas, will play again in just three days when it hosts rival Northern Michigan Tuesday (Feb. 12) at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena. Faceoff for the Huskies’ final non-conference game of the seasons is slated for 7:07 p.m.