College hockey recap (week of Nov. 21-27)

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By Jonathan Cochran – 

Here’s how Michigan’s NCAA D-I schools fared in college hockey action this past weekend.

Note: Ferris State and Western did not play this week. The Broncos host St. Cloud State on Friday, while the Bulldogs travel to face Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday.

 

Michigan State pulls off upset at No. 5 North Dakota

The Spartans held on for a massive victory over No. 5 North Dakota on Friday ,a 4-3 final.

North Dakota got on the board first with a power play goal from Shane Gersich 6:57 into the first period.

The Spartans got the equalizer midway through the period when freshman Jerad Rosburg found the back of the net. Rosburg struck again for the Spartans with minutes to play in the first, making it 2-1 entering the second period.

MSU continued the scoring at 7:34 of the second period with a tally from Connor Wood, giving them a two-goal lead.

Joe Cox’s game-winning goal came on the power play under three minutes into the final period.

North Dakota mounted a comeback effort thanks to man-advantage opportunities in the third. Tyson Jost scored two goals to make it a close 4-3 game, but the Spartans hung on to earn the win.

Ed Minney made a season-high 30 saves in the effort.

Saturday’s game was even closer, as the Spartans and Fighting Hawks settled for a 2-2 tie.

Minney again broke his season-high number of saves, this time recording 32 of them.

A shorthanded goal at 7:36 of the first period from Thomas Ebbing gave the Spartans the first lead of the game. But 39 seconds later, North Dakota answered with a tally of their own from Zach Yon.

A Fighting Hawks power play resulted in a Tucker Poolman goal with under eight minutes to play in the first.

The final goal of the game came from Patrick Khodorenko near the start of the second period, tying the game for the Spartans.

Rosburg scored for MSU less than a minute into the second overtime period as neither team could score in the 5-on-5 overtime.

 

Michigan splits home series with Lake State

Michigan hosted Lake Superior State this weekend, losing to the Lakers 3-1.

The scoring didn’t start until midway through the second period when Tony Calderone found the back of the net for the lone Wolverines goal of the game. The Lakers followed suit 23 seconds later when Josh Nenadal recorded a goal to tie the game.

Luke Morgan got the game-winning goal for the Lakers with under three minutes to play. Gus Correal scored an empty-net goal later to give the game its final score.

Jack LaFontaine turned away 25 shots for the Wolverines, while Gordon Defiel stopped 29 of his own to earn the victory.

Michigan found their groove on Saturday however, earning a 4-1 win over the Lakers.

Calderone was again the first to strike, scoring his team-leading sixth goal of the season and making it 1-0 Michigan at the 4:10 mark of the first. Lake State responded when C.J. Hayes found the back of the net with under five minutes left in the period.

Michigan’s go-ahead goal came from Nolan De Jong midway through the second period. The goal would end up being the game-winner as the Wolverines kept their foot on the gas and never looked back.

James Sanchez struck for the maize and blue at the 6:59 mark of the third period to give his team a cushion.

Nicholas Boka put the game out of reach with an empty-net goal with less than a minute to play in regulation. The goal was Boka’s first at the collegiate level.

Zach Nagelvoort made 22 saves on the night for the Wolverines, while his Laker counterpart Defiel made 26.

Photos:

PHOTOS: Wolverines beat Lakers in Saturday night rematch

PHOTOS: Lakers top Wolverines Friday night at Yost

 

Michigan Tech completes sweep in Alaska

Michigan Tech was victorious on the road on Friday, defeating Alaska 4-1.

Angus Redmond was between the pipes for the Huskies, turning away 22 shots.

Alaska opened the scoring with their only goal of the game midway through the first period when Ross Heidt found the back of the net. Tyler Heinonen responded for the Huskies when he scored just 38 seconds after the Alaska goal, tying the game up.

Jake Lucchini got the go-ahead tally at the start of the second period to give Tech all it would need to win. Joel L’Esperance gave the Huskies some cushion with his goal 13:46 into the middle period. Tech then put the game away with Chris Leibinger’s empty net goal with under a minute to play.

The Huskies capped off the weekend with the series sweep on Saturday, topping the Nanooks 2-1.

Brent Baltus struck first for Tech with his goal midway through the first period. MTU then made it 2-0 off a Shane Hanna goal at 7:35 of the second period.

The Nanooks kept it close when Marcus Basara found the back of the net to cut the deficit in half. The Huskies clung to that one-goal lead for the remainder of the game and ended up victorious.

Redmond stopped 26 shots to improve to 8-1-1 on the season.

 

Northern drops tough series with Nebraska-Omaha

Northern Michigan played a close game on Friday night, tying Omaha 2-2.

Omaha struck first off a goal from Justin Parizek at the 10:00 mark of the first period. But Northern responded quickly, tying the game 42 seconds later when Dominik Shine found the back of the net.

The Wildcats built some momentum, as Troy Loggins found the back of the net less than a minute later, giving themselves the lead. A second period power-play opportunity gave the Mavericks the equalizer they needed as Tyler Vesel was able to score on the man advantage.

Despite outshooting Omaha 11-5 in the third period, the Wildcats didn’t find the back of the net for the rest of the night.

Northern’s offense disappeared on Saturday, as they were shutout by the Mavericks 2-0.

Two goals 14 seconds apart midway through the second period would start and end the scoring for the game. Jake Randolph was the first to strike for Omaha at 7:55. Parizek followed Randolph’s lead with a goal of his own at 8:09.