The frustration carried north of the border.

The Chargers lost to Lake Superior State 4-1 on Saturday at GFL Gardens in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.

UAH (2-22-6, 2-16-6-1 WCHA) barely avoided being shut out for the third straight game, scoring their only goal of the series with 1:16 left in the third period.

It was the Chargers’ first game in Canada since starting the 1994-95 season at the University of Windsor, although this was the first NCAA game for UAH in Canada.

Lake Superior State (10-20-4, 8-12-4-4 WCHA) clinched a spot in the WCHA playoffs with the win.

The Lakers kept Mark Sinclair busy again in this one, getting 15 shots on the junior. The Chargers only mustered four, but it was the same situation: No goals for either team.

But Lake Superior State broke through in the second period with three goals, the first regulation goals of the weekend by either side.

First, Ashton Calder scored on a breakaway with 9:01 left, ending Sinclair’s shutout streak at 126 minutes and 15 seconds.

It just snowballed after that. Jacob Nordqvist made it 2-0 two minutes later, and then Brayden Gelsinger made it 3-0 just 30 seconds after that.

Will Riedell added the fourth goal for the Lakers at 4:11 of the third period.

Tanner Hickey finally got the Chargers on the board with 1:16 remaining.

The Lakers outshot UAH 33-25 for the game. Sinclair finished with 29 saves.

UAH’s road winless streak is now at 21 games (0-17-4) going back to last season. The Chargers hit the road one last time next week at WCHA-leading Minnesota State.

The good news is that the Chargers officially shut out the Lakers. The bad news is that the Chargers still couldn’t win.

The first scoreless tie in UAH’s 41-year hockey history occurred Friday in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, as the Chargers and Lake Superior failed to score in three periods and overtime.

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The Lakers took the second WCHA point in the shootout, and even that took a while to see a goal. Yuki Miura had the lone tally in the fifth round.

Also historic was UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair. He is credited with his third career shutout, setting a new UAH record for saves in a shutout with 44.

The Chargers (2-21-6, 2-15-6-1 WCHA) matched a program record with their sixth tie of the season. However, they also extended their UAH-record road winless streak to 20 games (0-17-3) going back to last season.

Plus, UAH was shutout for the second straight game. The Chargers haven’t scored in the last seven periods.

UAH has been on the short end of these “extra point” situations following a tie a lot this season. The Chargers have only gotten two points once out of six opportunities.

Lake Superior State improved to 9-20-4 overall and 7-12-4-4 in WCHA play.

Game two of the series is Saturday night at 6 p.m. across the Soo Locks at GFL Gardens in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.

While the bulk of the Lakers’ chances were from firing away at Mark Sinclair, the Chargers’ chances were from Laker miscues on their end.

Sinclair’s glove was plenty active as he kept the Lakers off the board. The junior made 17 saves in the opening period. Mitens was on the spot on the chances he saw, stopping six shots.

The Chargers stepped it up in the second period while the Lakers looked off. But like the first, neither squad could dent the twine. UAH had 12 shots in the middle frame compared to 10 for Lake Superior State.

The Lakers dominated the third period with a 12-4 shots advantage, but once again Sinclair was big, including two stops in the final minute to force overtime.

Each team had one shot on goal in the extra period, but after five minutes the scoreless tie was official.

Each team had a 4-on-3 power-play chance in the 3-on-3 second overtime, but Sinclair and Mitens came up big late to send it to the shootout.

Jack Jeffers, Peyton Francis, Tyr Thompson, Brandon Salerno, and Connor Merkley came up empty in the shootout, the second for UAH this season.

Mitens had 23 total saves in his shutout.

The old UAH record for saves in a shutout was 39, which Mark Sinclair shared when he blanked Michigan Tech last season. The other holders were Derek Puppa (against Minnesota State in 1995) and Scott Munroe (against Robert Morris in 2005).

UAH had its largest offensive output of the season, but couldn’t hold on to a two-goal game late.

The Chargers and Alaska officially had a 6-6 tie on Friday at the Von Braun Center, with the Nanooks scoring early in the 3-on-3 extra overtime period to take two of three WCHA points.

But UAH (2-20-5, 2-14-5-1) held a 6-4 lead with five minutes to go before Alaska stormed back with two quick goals. The Chargers, who finally won their second game of the season last Saturday, were on the verge of back-to-back victories.

“Frustrating,” UAH head coach Mike Corbett said. “These are the games that we have to learn how to win, and we’ve got to shut the door. You’ve got to play the right way from start to finish and understand situational hockey when the score is 6-4.”

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The Chargers will try to at least keep an unbeaten streak going in the series finale Saturday at 7 p.m.

The game was out of the ordinary for its high scoring, particularly for the Chargers, who had only scored more than three goals twice this season.

Daneel Lategan put the Chargers up 1-0 just 1:34 into the game, as his deflection in front beat goaltender Anton Martinsson. His fifth tally of the season was assisted by Liam Izyk and Bauer Neudecker.

Izyk quickly made it 2-0 at the 5:57 mark when he tipped a Tanner Hickey blast up the middle for his third goal of the season. Connor Merkley also got an assist.

The freshman Izyk has been heating up with a three-game point-scoring streak. He also had a goal and an assist in last Saturday’s win over Michigan Tech.

Alaska (13-13-3, 11-9-3-1 WCHA) got on the board with a power-play goal from the right circle by Tyler Kline with 7:17 remaining in the opening period.

The Chargers went back up two at 3-1 when Austin Beaulieu drove up the right side and beat Martinsson high with a wrister with 2:23 remaining. Christian Rajic and Lucas Bahn with the assists.

That concluded an energetic first period with each team getting 12 shots on goal.

“We started well, besides their power-play goal,” Corbett said. “We took care of our chances in front of the net. We got two tipped goals and Austin Beaulieu scores a nice shot coming off the wing.”

Alaska switched to Gustavs Grigals in goal to start the second, and made it a one-goal game almost immediately.

Nanooks leading scorer Steven Jandric beat Mark Sinclair on a backhander through the slot just nine seconds in.

The Nanooks tied the game when Kyler Hope, all alone in front, had two chances on Sinclair following a centering pass. The goalie stopped the first, but not the second, and it was 3-3 just short of five minutes into the second.

UAH regained the lead at 4-3 with 8:34 left in the period. Tyr Thompson, who had a shot hit the post just a minute earlier, found the puck in the slot and whipped it around past Grigals.

The Chargers went up two again on another tipped shot. This time it was Connor Wood getting his fourth goal of the season by deflecting Max Coyle’s shot from the right circle with 3:58 left in the second.

UAH had its season high in goals at five with a period to spare. And they weren’t done yet.

Markus Komuls scored with 58 seconds left in the second to trim UAH’s lead to 5-4, but just nine seconds later, Rajic scored on the doorstep off a centering pass from Beaulieu and it was 6-4 UAH at the second intermission.

Josh Latta notched his team-leading 10th assist.

The scoring got quiet for most of the third until the Nanooks tied the game at 6-6 on back-to-back goals 18 seconds apart with just under five minutes left in regulation. James LaDouce and Max Newton did the deeds for Alaska.

Alaska had the most of the third period, outshooting the Chargers 13-5. The Nanooks had a 43-28 shots advantage for the game. Sinclair finished with 37 saves.

Despite the six-goal output, Corbett says there will be changes to the lineup for Saturday’s game.

“Our group has to understand that this is unacceptable,” Corbett said. “If you want to be a team that gets into the playoffs, this is unacceptable, and it’s disappointing.”

No goals occurred during the regular 5-on-5 overtime, leading to the Chargers’ fifth tie of the season. They are 0-0-5 after OT.

Tyler Cline ended the extra 3-on-3 overtime quickly, scoring 29 seconds in. UAH has only gotten one point in five extra-point opportunities this season.

The Chargers withstood the storm, and finally got back in the win column.

UAH defeated Michigan Tech 3-1 on Saturday at the Von Braun Center, ending the Chargers’ 12-game winless streak.

The Chargers (2-20-4, 2-14-4-1 WCHA) took a lead into the third period for the second straight night, but this time finished the job. On Friday, a 1-0 lead turned into a 4-1 loss.

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“The boys deserved it,” UAH head coach Mike Corbett said. “We played hard and we’ve been close many times, but we were able to finish it off tonight.”

Another solid performance by goaltender Mark Sinclair helped. The junior, who was a little under the weather this weekend, stopped 29 of 30 shots.

“I think we sweated it out of him,” Corbett said. “He played well. Mark’s been our guy all year. Once again, it was another well-deserved win for him.”

Michigan Tech (15-13-3, 10-10-2-0 WCHA), battling inconsistency in recent weeks and sit in fifth place in the WCHA, suffered a defeat to UAH for the third straight season.

The Chargers scored the first goal for the second straight night, and a bit earlier this time. Connor Wood drove toward the net from the right circle, deflected the puck off a Tech defender and past goaltender Matt Jurusik.

It was Wood’s third goal of the season. Ben Allen got his second assist.

UAH took a 2-0 lead with 2:23 left in the second period.

Bauer Neudecker drew a hooking penalty on a break after getting around a Husky defender. On the ensuing power play, Jack Jeffers pocketed in a loose puck in front for his sixth goal of the season. Liam Izyk and Christian Rajic had the assists.

“Izyk put it through the crease and I was lucky enough to have a wide-open net,” Jeffers said. “It was a great play by him.”

The goal wound up being the game-winner for Jeffers, who along with senior defenseman Connor James were left out of the lineup on Friday.

“Sometimes you sit a night and you get a little kick in the butt,” Corbett said. “And they know it. They’re two of our core players and they need to be our core players, and they responded well.”

It was an odd game for Neudecker, who committed three penalties. He had only one penalty in 61 career games with UAH coming in.

Michigan Tech dictated the action again in the third period. The Huskies cut UAH’s lead 2-1 on Tommy Parrottino’s goal in 4-on-4 play.

The Huskies had three opportunities on the power play in the third period. They pulled Jurusik for the extra attacker during the last chance after a Lucas Bahn slashing penalty with 2:14 to go.

“We always make it a little hard for ourselves at the end, but it was nice to get a win,” Corbett said.

UAH sealed the victory when Izyk scored from behind his own goal line into the empty net. It was Izyk’s second goal and the first short-handed goal for the Chargers this season.

The game was riddled with penalties, with each team getting 10 for 23 minutes. UAH went 1-for-7 on the power play, while Michigan Tech went 0-for-6.

“We just played period by period and you see what we can do when we play a complete game,” Jeffers said. “When we’re going up 2-0 going into the third, we have to win that game. From here on out, we’ve got to get points in every single game. You never know what can happen, and hopefully we can make a run at the playoffs.”

The Chargers still have a ways to go to get back into that WCHA playoff contention. UAH is eight points behind Alaska Anchorage for the eighth and final spot with eight games remaining and two games in hand.

UAH hosts Alaska, which is currently fourth in the league, next weekend at the VBC.

“We’ve got to beat some really good teams,” Corbett said. “We’ve got to beat the teams that are in the top three or four. To me, that’s the challenge. We put ourselves in this position, now we’ve got to be able to go for it.”