After Friday night’s loss, the No. 4 Michigan Tech Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead just five minutes into Saturday night’s contest with the No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena en route to a split with a 4-3 win.
“I am proud of our team,” said Huskies coach Mel Pearson. “It was a struggle in the third period. It seemed like we couldn’t do anything right at that point, but we found a way to hang in there.”
The hockey gods smiled on Huskies center Mike Neville. Having missed valuable practice time due the death of his grandfather, Neville scored the game-winning goal with just 19 seconds left in regulation.
“My grandfather was a special man,” said Neville. “I gave his eulogy. It was something pretty terrifying but something pretty special at the same time. I’m just really happy to get the win for the guys.”
Neville’s goal came on a tip off a pass from winger Tyler Heinonen. Winger Blake Hietala also assist on the goal.
“It turned into a hell of a hockey game,” said Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin. “Goals are scored off mistakes. We had a little breakdown there and they made a great play and scored.”
Heinonen got the Huskies on the board just 3:33 into the contest when he cut in front of Kasimir Kaskisuo and beat him with a backhand shot. Hietala and assistant captain Cliff Watson each assisted on the goal.
The Huskies struck again two shifts later when winger C.J. Eick fired a backhand that Kaskisuo struggled to play. The rebound kicked out to winger Alex Gillies, who buried a shot in the back of the net at 5:00. Center Dylan Steman assisted on the goal as well.
“We had a good start,” said Eick. “To come out and get a couple quick was huge for the confidence and it gave everybody a lot of energy.”
That was the end of Kaskisuo’s night. Backup Matt McNeely was forced into action right away as the Huskies got through again. Fortunately for the visitors, he came up with the save, one of his 24 on the night.
Huskies goaltender Jamie Phillips stopped all five pucks sent his way through the first 20 minutes.
In the second period, the Huskies (13-3-0 overall) started to look for the perfect pass instead of shooting the way they had in the first, and that came back to haunt them as the Bulldogs managed to get some scoring chances of their own.
The Huskies did have one very close scoring chance when Eick skated in on a two-on-one as he fired a shot toward the right post. His shot was stopped by McNeely.
The Bulldogs (12-6-0 overall) pulled within one when winger Tony Cameranesi’s shot from the left point was tipped in by winger Austin Farley at 10:25.
The Huskies answered less than two minutes later, however, when defenseman Shane Hanna took a pass from defenseman Matt Roy and blasted a shot that beat McNeely at 12:05. Winger Max Vallis also assisted on the goal.
Playing with urgency in the third, the Bulldogs battled hard and managed to work their back into the game.
Center Dominic Toninato cut the lead to one with a tip off a pass from defenseman Willie Raskob for a goal at 7:28.
The Bulldogs continued to pressure the Huskies, forcing turnovers near the blue line on multiple occasions until Raskob fired a shot at Phillips. The rebound kicked out to winger Austyn Young, who had the presence of mind to hold onto the rebound until he got Phillips down and beat him with a shot at 13:07.
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The way the game was going after the Bulldogs tied it, it appeared the Huskies might be lucky to survive until overtime. Phillips made 15 of his 33 saves in the final frame.
