Tyson Turgeon scored a controversial goal with 2:06 remaining to give the Lakers a 2-1 win over No. 5 Michigan Thursday night at the Taffy Abel Arena.
Turgeon took a shot from the blue line on net, and while there was originally no signal from the referee, the goal light went on. After a brief telephone conference with the goal judge, the Lakers were awarded the goal, which gave them their third straight victory.
Sophomore assistant captain Jason Nightingale and freshman Kyle Anderson added assists on Turgeon’s goal, his first of the year.
“Turgeon played really well tonight. For the last couple of games he has played very well. The goal was great because he has not gotten many chances offensively and I was really happy for him,” said Lake Superior State coach Scott Borek.
The Lakers took the lead late in the second period when Chris McNamara scored a power-play goal, his sixth of the season, from right in front of the Wolverine net.
Michigan tied the game early in the third with a power-play goal from Craig Murray. Murray’s goal was his eighth of the year.
Michigan pulled goaltender Josh Blackburn in favor of the extra attacker with seconds remaining and a faceoff to the right side of the Laker net, but Lake State held on to record the win.
“It was so reminiscent of the games against Michigan State here. We even had a faceoff in our zone with 11 seconds remaining. The whole season has kind of been set up to where we have not gotten the bounces, but tonight we worked hard and got some, which was great,” said Borek.
Platt stopped 37 Michigan shots and recorded his 12th win of the season, while Blackburn made 26 saves for Michigan and fell to 20-10-5.
The win moved Lake State into 10th place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, ahead of Bowling Green and Notre Dame, with whom they are competing for the final CCHA playoff spot.
The Lakers improved to 12-20-0 overall and 8-17-0 in the CCHA.
Michigan and Lake State will have Friday night off before finishing their regular-season series at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Saturday evening.
