HOUGHTON, Mich. – The nationally No. 9-ranked Michigan Tech Huskies remain undefeated after dispatching the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, 3-1 Saturday for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association sweep in front of 3,271 fans at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
In a game that saw three major penalties – two for MTU and one on UAA – both teams were able to capitalizing on the man advantage via a major infraction. Meanwhile, the Seawolves fell to 4-4-2 overall and 1-3-0 in league play, while the Huskies improved to 8-0-0 and 6-0-0 in the WCHA.
With the Seawolves trailing 2-0 early in the third period and on the power play, UAA received its sixth straight goal from a defensemen when rookie Jarrett Brown fired a wrister from top of the right circle, beating MTU netminder Jamie Phillips. The Seawolves' power play strike – just the second allowed by Tech in 43 opponent attempts – came at 1:39 when Alex Gillies was whistled for a 5-minute major for interference.
UAA, playing its best hockey all weekend, continued to pressure in the remaining minutes but were unable to find the equalizer. With 53 seconds left in the game, bench boss Matt Thomas pull sophomore Michael Matyas for the extra attacker, but the Huskies furnished the empty-net tally with 29.8 second remaining for the 3-1 final.
The night started when the Huskies took a 1-0 lead at 3:08 of the opening stanza with a blast from the point by Shane Hanna – his first on the season. Twelve minutes later, Chris Leibinger was sent off the ice for the first 5-minute major of the night, receiving a game misconduct for contact-to-the-head.
In the second, MTU extended its lead to two with a power-play goal at 14:46 with UAA's Derek Docken (hooking) serving a 2-minute minor and with Dylan Hubbs receiving the gate for checking-from-behind. The Huskies' Alex Petan fired a shot from the right circle, one minute into the 5-on-3 advantage.
Following Friday's night 46-19 advantage for shots on goal by Tech, the teams each placed 27 shots on target, while the Seawolves outshot the Huskies, 13-11 in the opening period. Matyas (1-2-1) posted 24 stops and Phillips turned aside 26. UAA was tagged for five penalties, serving 21 minutes, while MTU was 6-34.
The Seawolves continue their four-game road trip when they play ranked Ferris State, Nov. 13-14.
