MANKATO, MN -- (Courtesy of MTU) Michigan Tech overcame a 3-0 deficit to tie the game at three before the host Minnesota State Mavericks scored twice in the third period to claim a 5-3 WCHA victory at Verizon Wireless Center tonight. The Huskies (12-13-2, 9-8-2 WCHA) held a 46-39 advantage in shots on goal, but it was the Mavericks (10-18-1, 6-14-1 WCHA) defending their home ice.
Similar to last week’s series-opening period at Minnesota Duluth, Tech fell in a big hole early as Minnesota State scored the first three goals of the game. The trio of tallies came just six minutes apart—all even strength. The first came on a nice backhand shot from Zach Palmquist at the 10:46 mark. The other two came as MSU gained possession deep in the zone and fed passes in front.
Tech began its comeback in the final minute of the first. David Johnstone tallied his fifth power-play goal in the last four games by blasting a shot past Maverick goaltender Phil Cook. Steven Seigo and Ryan Furne both notched assists on the goal.
The Huskies owned the second period with a 24-13 advantage in shots on goal. Dennis Rix pulled the Huskies within a goal on a beautiful redirect of a Bradley Stebner shot from the point. The marker was Rix’s third of the season and came at the 8:38 mark.
Tanner Kero had a similar tip to tie the game just six minutes later. Riley Sweeney spotted Kero alone to the left of Cook and sent a nice pass to the rookie who earned his ninth goal of the campaign to knot the game at 3-all.
MSU rebounded in the third period to win the contest. The hosts scored on their first power play opportunity of the game just 1:16 into the final frame. They added an even strength goal at the 11:52 mark to complete the scoring.
Tech had two third-period power plays, but couldn’t convert either. The Huskies finished 2-for-5 on the man advantage. MSU was 1-for-2 on the power play.
“We were a little sloppy in the first and paid for it,” said head coach Mel Pearson. “You can’t give up five goals on the road and expect to win the hockey game. I thought we did a lot of good things. We fought back to tie the game and controlled play in the second and third periods. We’ve got to be better than that defensively.”
The teams will wrap up their two-game weekend series and four-game season series tomorrow night. Faceoff at Verizon Wireless Center is set for 8:07 p.m. (ET).
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