HOUGHTON, Mich. -- Despite firing a season-high 44 shots on
goal, the Michigan Tech (2-13-1, 1-8-1 WCHA) hockey team was
defeated 8-2 by North Dakota (10-5-1, 6-4-0 WCHA) in the final game
of a two-game set at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena Saturday
night. Senior John Scott and sophomore Tyler Shelast each scored
for the Huskies.
Like Friday night, UND scored the only goal of the first period, as
Drew Stafford notched a shorthanded marker at 11:57.
Tech evened the score at 1-1 early in the second frame when Scott
netted an unassisted goal at the 2:23 mark. The 6-7, 258-pounder
took a sharp blast from the right point that deflected off a
Fighting Sioux defender and then squirted through the legs of UND
goalie Jordan Parise.
North Dakota broke open the game after that, however, as it rattled
off four unanswered goals in the second stanza. Stafford struck
again at 4:53, while Andrew Kozek lit the lamp twice, once at 10:28
and again at 14:17. Jonathan Toews added a tally at 16:35 to give
the visitors a 5-1 cushion.
Shelast cut the deficit to three with his team-leading third
power-play marker at the 17:49 mark of the middle frame. The winger
took a pass from senior Brandon Schwartz just inside the UND
blueline and quickly released a shot that beat Parise low on the
stick side. Schwartz's helper was his sixth of the season. Junior
Lars Helminen was credited with the second assist on the goal.
The Fighting Sioux compiled three more goals in the final session
of play to seal a six-goal win. Matt Smaby and Matt Watkins
compiled even-strength goals at :55 and 8:26, while Stafford capped
UND's scoring with his third lamplighter of the contest at the
14:00 mark.
MTU outshot North Dakota 44-31 for the game.
The Huskies scored once in seven power-play chances, while the
Fighting Sioux went 1-for-7 with a man advantage.
Michigan Tech travels to Madison, Wis., next Friday-Saturday (Dec.
9-10) for a pair of games against top-ranked Wisconsin at the Kohl
Center. The puck will drop at 8:07 Friday and 9:07 Saturday.
Notes: Tech's 44-shot output was its highest since Feb. 25, 2005,
when it put up 52 shots in a 2-2 overtime tie at Alaska
Anchorage.
