The Michigan Tech Huskies just can’t catch a break on home ice.
Joe Cullen scored his second goal of the game 3:38 into overtime, giving St. Cloud State a thrilling 4-3 victory, extending Michigan Tech’s home winless streak to 14 games.
“I gave a little give-and go with Duvie [Westcott] and two of their guys went out after him and I was kind of all alone,” Cullen said.
“It was a team effort tonight,” said St. Cloud State coach Craig Dahl. “It was a good college hockey game.”
Paul Cabana scored twice for Tech (3-10-1, 3-10-0 WCHA), which rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to force overtime. The Huskies haven’t won a home game since they beat Minnesota-Duluth on Jan. 21.
“What I asked for was effort,” said Michigan Tech interim coach Mike Sertich, who was making his home debut. “I got it and I can deal with anything that happens after that.”
“I give Tech a lot of credit,” commented Dahl. “They really worked very hard.”
Both goaltenders were brilliant at times, keeping their respective teams in the game. Brian Rogers made 35 saves for Tech; Scott Meyer made 34 for SCSU (9-3-1, 4-3-0 WCHA).
After a scoreless first period, Mark Hartigan scored at 1:59 of the second and Cullen made it 2-0 at the 5:12 mark.
Cabana’s first of the night — on the power play — cut the deficit to one at 8:15.
St. Cloud State then regained the two-goal lead when Andy Lundbohm scored at 11:52.
But Tech didn’t quit. Cabana’s second goal of the game and eighth of the year made it 3-2 at 14:58 of the middle period, setting the stage for Chris Durno’s game-tying goal 1:25 into the third period.
“The second period really hurt us,” said Sertich, who is 2-3 since taking over for Tim Watters. “We have to regroup after the disappointment. But the big thing is we that have to understand why it happened in the second period. When you stand around and watch the other team rather than react to the other team, you get in trouble.”
Michigan Tech finished 1-for-5 on the power play. SCSU failed to score on any of their five chances.
