The Chargers could not overcome the penalties, thus could not overcome the Bulldogs in a 4-1 loss in Big Rapids, Mich., on Saturday night.

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Ferris State (10-9-5 overall, 8-7-3 WCHA) took three of four points in the series from UAH (5-16-3 overall, 3-12-3 WCHA), which find itself still five points behind eighth-place Alaska for the final WCHA playoff spot. UAH is three points behind Alaska Anchorage for ninth place, and the Chargers head to Anchorage on Jan. 29-30 after a bye week.

UAH was outshot 38-21 on Saturday after being outshot 49-21 in Friday’s 3-3 tie.

Also, the penalty bug continued from Friday into Saturday. UAH managed to survive eight Ferris State power plays Friday, but continued to give the Bulldogs chances with nine power play opportunities, including six in the first period alone.

On their third power play, the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead at 13:21 as Simon Denis put back a rebound on an open net following a Brandon Parker tripping penalty.

UAH committed five penalties for 21 minutes — the big one being on Brennan Saulnier, whose contact to the head of Chad McDonald left the Ferris State winger down for a few minutes. Saulnier got a five minute major and a game misconduct at the 14:29 mark.

The Chargers killed the major power play thanks to interruptions by two Ferris State penalties. During those 4-on-4 periods, the Chargers were able to exude some pressure in the Bulldog end, but could not find the equalizer.

In the end of the first, FSU had another big shots advantage at 14-6.

UAH tied the game in the second on a power play of its own. Following a 3-on-1 rush, Josh Kestner received a pass in the slot from Kurt Gosselin, beating FSU goaltender Darren Smith for his fifth goal of the season. Gosselin notched his sixth assist.

Ferris State pulled ahead with two late second-period goals. With 5:29 left in the period, Tyler Andrew deflected a Sean O’Rourke blast from the left point to beat Carmine Guerriero to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.

Then with 46 seconds remaining, Brandon Anselmini scored in front to make it 3-1 Bulldogs.

The final straw was on yet another Charger penalty in the third period. Gosselin was called for hooking at 5:37, and McDonald scored on the resulting power play — the Bulldogs’ ninth of the game — at 7:34 for the final 4-1 score.

Guerriero finished with 34 saves on the night. Smith had 20 saves for the Bulldogs.

The Chargers needed a win in the worst way Saturday, and they got it thanks to a local.

Huntsville native Josh Kestner scored two goals, and Matt Larose made 28 saves, to lead UAH to a 3-1 victory over Alaska and a series split. It was UAH’s first win over Alaska since 1992, ending a streak of 11 straight victories for the Nanooks in the series.

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The win pulled the Chargers (5-15-2 overall, 3-11-2 WCHA) back to four points behind Alaska (6-12-4, 4-10-4) for eighth place in the WCHA standings. Also tied for eighth was Alaska Anchorage, which lost to Bemidji State 5-1 late Saturday night.

UAH still has a ways to go to get back into playoff contention, but any win is a good win at this point as the Chargers have won only twice in the last 16 games. And it takes the sting of the frustrating 6-3 loss to the Nanooks on Friday.

Alaska came out with pressure to start the game, but the Chargers took control with two first-period goals.

The first came at the 3:09 mark, as Cody Marooney intercepted the puck at center ice, pushed it into Alaska territory and beat Nanook goaltender Davis Jones high and stick-side. It was Marooney’s fourth goal of the season, unassisted.

The second came on the power play at 6:59. Austin Vieth was called for cross-checking and Zach Frye was called for boarding Chad Brears (who was down for a couple of minutes and had to be escorted off the ice). Just after Vieth’s penalty expired, Kestner in the slot deflected a Kurt Gosselin bullet down the middle past Jones for a 2-0 Charger lead. Kestner’s third goal of the season was assisted by Gosselin and Cam Knight.

At that point, UAH had an 8-1 shots on goal advantage.

Alaska would get a couple of power play chances of their own, but their best chance at a goal was a gift from a UAH turnover during another Charger power play. John Mullally picked off the puck and took it on a breakaway. Larose came out to meet Mullally on the left side, leaving the net wide open, but Mullally fired it wide, and it remained 2-0 after the first period.

Both teams had chances to score in an up-and-down second period, but no goals were to be had.

Larose put the stops on a partial breakaway shot by Alec Hajdukovic to keep Alaska off the board, and made another body save on Marcus Basara in the first six minutes of the frame. The Nanooks had one goal waved off after the officials quickly whistled them for players in the crease.

At the other end, Jones was coming up big for UAF, particularly during a UAH power play late in the period to keep it a two-goal game after two.

Kestner struck again in the third to make it 3-0. Hans Gorowsky intercepted a pass at center ice, tipping it to Kestner, who drove it to the slot and beat Jones for his second goal of the game with 14:34 left.

The Nanooks made Larose work in the third, firing 14 shots on goal. Colton Sparrow finally broke the shutout when he beat Larose from the slot with 1:59 to go, ending Larose’s bid for this second shutout of the season and UAH’s first home shutout since 2003.

Larose finished with 28 saves for his third win of the season. Alaska outshot the Chargers 29-27.

UAH heads to Big Rapids, Mich., next weekend to take on Ferris State. The Chargers return home on Feb. 12 and 13 to face Minnesota State.

It started with anticipation, excitement, and success. It ended with another bitter defeat, much like the Chargers’ 2015-16 season as a whole.

Alaska scored four unanswered goals, including three in the third period, to beat UAH 6-3 on Friday in front of season-high crowd of 3,521 and a national TV audience.

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The Chargers (4-15-2 overall, 2-11-2 WCHA) are deeper in last place, now six points behind the Nanooks (6-11-4 overall, 4-9-4 WCHA) and further back from one of the eight conference playoff spots. UAH needs points in a hurry, starting with the rematch coming Saturday night at 7, to get back into contention.

The success came early with two UAH goals in the first 11:35. Chad Brears notched his eighth goal of the season, assisted by Max McHugh and Brennan Saulnier, at the 4:11 mark to get the crowd fired up.

Then McHugh scored on the power play — a rocket from near the blue line — for his fifth tally of the season and a 2-0 Charger lead. Brandon Parker and Brears got the assists.

Alaska would cut the lead at 2-1 with a power-play goal of their own, courtesy of the WCHA’s leading scorer, Tyler Morley, who was left all alone in front of UAH goalie Carmine Guerriero. The goal came with 4:35 left in the first period.

The Nanooks tied the game at 2-2 with a shorthanded goal off a turnover by Josh Atkinson at the 6:19 mark of the second.

Brears regained the lead just 1:22 later with his second goal of the game, helped by Kurt Gosselin and McHugh.

Marcus Basara tied the game at 3-3 at 10:23 of the second on another power play goal. The Nanooks went 2-for-3 on the power play after UAH had killed 39 of its last 40 shorthanded situations.

Video courtesy Penalty Box Radio

That’s how it stood after 40 minutes, setting the stage for an exciting third period. However, it all went Alaska’s way right from the start, and UAH never recovered.

Alec Hajdukovich gave the Nanooks their first lead of the game just 11 seconds in. Peter Krieger made it 5-3 at the 10:39 mark. And for the last straw, John Mullally scored Alaska’s third goal of the frame on only eight shots on goal.

It was not a good night for Guerriero, who although was screened plenty, allowed six goals on 29 shots.

Davis Jones got the win in net for Alaska, stopping 28 of 31 Charger shots on goal.

It was one of those “what can you do” series, where you try your best against a superior opponent and hope you get enough bounces to pull an upset. The Chargers played well, but not enough bounces came against the second-ranked team in the country.

Carmine Guerriero stopped another 34 shots, but UAH again could not solve a stalwart defense and a white-hot goaltender in a 4-1 loss at No. 2 North Dakota on Saturday.

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Richard Buri got a fortunate bounce off a North Dakota defenseman on the only goal for the Chargers (4-14-2), who were shut out 1-0 on Friday.

North Dakota (18-2-2) scored just 25 seconds in, as defenseman Paul LaDue’s blast from the right point beat Guerriero for the first lead of the game.

The Fighting Hawks dominated possession and continued to fire pucks at Guerriero and the junior from Montreal continued to make tough saves — 18 in the first period alone.

UAH only had five shots in the opening period, but made that fifth one tied the game — albeit unintentionally — with 12.5 seconds remaining. Buri attempted a centering pass, and the puck was redirected by the stick of UND defenseman Keaton Thompson and squeezed between UND goalie Cam Johnson and the post. Buri was credited with the second goal of his career.

The goal ended a North Dakota record consecutive scoreless streak by Johnson. It was his first goal allowed in 298 minutes and 25 seconds. Johnson finished with 14 saves on the night.

The Chargers opened the second period with some extended offensive zone time, and had two power plays in the first half of the period.

But as the second of those power plays was about to expire, the Hawks retook the lead on a highlight-reel goal by their leading scorer, Drake Caggiula. Caggiula passed the puck around UAH defenseman Cody Champagne and snuck the puck past Guerriero with 11:44 remaining in the second. It was Caggiula’s 14th goal of the season.

North Dakota had a chance to extend their lead on the power play early in the third period, but UAH killed the penalty in part because of five blocked shots by Brandon Carlson.

The Fighting Hawks would finally seal the game late. With a faceoff in the UND zone with 2:02 left, Guerriero was pulled for an extra attacker, but Bryn Chyzyk was able to take the puck down and score the empty-netter to make it 3-1 with 1:52 remaining.

Tucker Poolman made it 4-1 on a blast with Guerriero back in the net with 48.5 seconds to go.

UAH was outshot 38-15. The Chargers were 37-26 on faceoffs.

The Chargers resume WCHA play next Friday and Saturday at the Von Braun Center against Alaska.

Carmine Guerriero did all he could — as he tends to do in these types of games — but UAH lost at No. 2 North Dakota on Friday by a 1-0 score.

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Bryn Chyzyk’s second-period goal was the only tally for the Fighting Hawks (17-2-2), but it was Cam Johnson who was their star. The goaltender posted his fourth straight shutout and broke North Dakota’s 62-year record for consecutive scoreless streak, now having not allowed a goal in 278 minutes and 38 seconds.

It was the first time the Chargers (4-13-2) have been shut out this season, but they didn’t go without a battle down to the final minutes. And Guerriero stood tall to keep UAH in striking distance, making 38 saves for his fifth 30-plus save game this season.

Guerriero got warmed up in the first 20 seconds of the contest. He made a couple of close saves on Johnny Simonson, and needed to go side to side to deny Coltyn Sanderson with 3:39 left in the period. That’s when Brandon Parker was called for holding, and Guerriero needed to make three saves in the ensuing North Dakota power play. He finished with 13 saves in the frame.

On the other end, Johnson had to make a couple of saves to keep history in his sights. The best Charger scoring chance came when Brent Fletcher centered Jetlan Houcher, who was stopped by Johnson with about five minutes left in the first. Johnson made seven saves in the period.

The Chargers got their first power play at 2:54 of the second period, but UND turned it into two shorthanded opportunities. Top Fighting Hawks scorer Drake Craggiula was all alone receiving a lob pass but Guerriero made the save, then Simonson was stymied on a shorthanded break.

North Dakota then got an extended two-man advantage after penalties on Hans Gorowsky and Richard Buri 13 seconds apart. Right as Gorowsky’s penalty expired, Chyzyk beat Guerriero alone from the right circle at 9:35 of the second period for a 1-0 UND lead.

Chyzyk’s power play goal ended UAH’s streak of consecutive penalties killed at 34 dating back to November 25.

About halfway through the second period, Johnson broke a 62-year North Dakota record for longest consecutive scoreless streak, which was 249:41 set by Gerald “Spike” Schultz in 1954.

Johnson’s streak continued after making a save on a Tyler Poulsen penalty shot at 1:28 left in the second. Johnson made saves on Adam Wilcox and Jack Prince as UAH put on some extended pressure to end the period.

The third period had little flow with many whistles, many caused by UAH icings. The Hawks kept putting the pressure on the UAH defense and Guerriero, who continued to see the puck well and make the saves.

As the period progressed, the Chargers started to find chances to make that tying goal, but not convert. With around seven minutes to go, a puck bounce in front of the UND net found Max McHugh‘s stick, but he put the puck wide. About a minute later, Johnson made a nice save on a rising shot from Prince.

But the biggest chance came with about a minute left, when Fletcher made an offensive zone steal and drove in toward Johnson, who finished with 19 saves in front of a crowd of 11,334 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Game two of the series is Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. The game can be seen via subscription on NCHC.tv.