DETROIT — Senior Tyler Shelast continued his remarkable career at the Great Lakes Invitational Hockey Tournament with two goals and an assist in a 4-1 Michigan Tech victory over fifth-ranked Michigan State at Joe Louis Arena tonight. The win was the Huskies' first at the GLI since 2000 and their first over MSU since 1991.

"I'm really proud of our team," said fifth-year head coach Jamie Russell. "Rob (Nolan) played well, and both our special teams were 100 percent."

Nolan (3-4-0) tallied 29 saves on 30 shots and withstood fluries from the Spartans in each of the final two periods.

Tech had its only power play of the game midway through the first period and converted. Shelast tipped an initial shot by senior Jimmy Kerr through the legs of Michigan State goaltender Jeff Lerg (11-4-2) at 13:47. Junior Geoff Kinrade also picked up an assist on the goal, which was Shelast's 42nd career marker and 27th on the man advantage.

Junior Tim Kennedy tied the score for the Spartans less than 90 seconds later by tapping in a rebound under a diving Nolan. He was assisted on the goal by junior Justin Abdelkader and junior Brandon Gentile.

Shelast had a hand in the game-winning goal for Tech as he sent a puck in front of the net that hit junior Malcolm Gwilliam before finding the stick of senior Peter Rouleau. Rouleau beat Lerg high on the glove side with a beautiful wrist shot at 8:50 of the second period.

The Huskies killed their third penalty of the second frame with 4:28 remaining, but had to battle through an offensive surge from the Spartans that nearly tied the game. Nolan turned away seven shots during the waning moments of the period to preserve the 2-1 advantage heading into the final 20 minutes.

Tech's penalty kill shut out MSU on their fourth and final power play chance in early in the third. The defending national champions pulled Lerg with less than a minute remaining to try to even the score. Shelast then swatted home his second goal of the night into the empty net with 46 seconds to play. The marker was his ninth at the GLI in seven career games here.

Senior captain Jimmy Kerr put the icing on the cake just 19 seconds later as he buried a breakaway chance top shelf from the high right circle. Kinrade picked up his second assist of the night, while junior Ryan Angelow garnered his first helper of the season.

"For the seniors, this is our last chance to play for the championship," said Shelast. "I don't really have words to describe why I play so well here. I just go out and play hard and things seem to go my way in this building."

Michigan State hit two pipes including one in the third period that would have tied the game. It finished with 30 shots on goal compared to 29 for the Huskies.

"The bounces went our way, but I felt we worked hard and earned them," said Russell. "It's nice to be in the championship, but just getting there is not our goal. Winning it is."

Michigan Tech (7-8-2) will face No. 1-ranked Michigan (17-2-0) in tomorrow night's GLI Championship. The Wolverines defeated Providence, 6-0, in the first semifinal contest. Opening faceoff for the 43rd Annual GLI Championship is slated for 7:36 p.m.