Michigan Tech scored twice in the first five minutes and held on for a 2-1 win over UAH on Sunday.

UAH played better defensively after the early deficit, with goaltender David Fessenden making 28 saves.

However, Michigan Tech goaltender Mark Sinclair stopped 19 of 20 shots against his former team as the Huskies (6-3-1, 2-0-0 WCHA) won their fifth straight game. MTU completed the series sweep after defeating UAH 4-0 on Saturday.

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UAH (0-5-1, 0-2-0 WCHA) hosts Ferris State on Friday and Saturday for its first home games of the season.

The Chargers were in a 2-0 hole early. First at the 3:14 mark, Tyler Rockwell scored on a low shot from the high slot on the power play following a Adrian Danchenko cross-checking penalty, and then Chris Lipe found the net from the right point at 4:41.

UAH finally got on the board for the first time this weekend when Noah Finstrom’s pass in front hit Justin Misiak’s stick and past Sinclair. Finstrom’s first college goal and point cut Tech’s lead to 2-1 at the first intermission.

That would also be the score at the second intermission. The Chargers played more time in the Huskies’ end, getting a few extra scoring chances despite only getting four shots on goal for the period.

UAH had a number of chances again in the third period, and outshot Tech 9-6 for the period.

Fessenden was pulled for the extra attacker in the final 1:30, the Chargers couldn’t find the equalizer against Sinclair, who transferred to Michigan Tech after UAH had temporarily cancelled the hockey program.

UAH had a rough return to play to start 2021, falling 4-0 at Michigan Tech on Saturday to begin WCHA play in Houghton.

The Chargers were outshot 30-18 as the Huskies applied constant pressure and created their own puck luck.

UAH (0-4-1 overall, 0-1-0 WCHA) will try for a split Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. CST. MTU improved to 5-3-1 and 1-0-0 with its fourth straight win.

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David Fessenden made 26 saves for the Chargers, who felt the Huskies’ persistent pressure, particularly in the first two periods.

At the end of one, the Michigan Tech outshot UAH 9-4, but no goals were scored. Quinn Green had UAH’s best chance with a breakaway in the last 10 seconds.

The Huskies continued to apply the pressure hard to start the second period and it finally paid off. Brian Halonen scored on an open net, converting a 2-on-1 with Nick Nardella to put Michigan Tech up 1-0 at the 6:42 mark.

The Chargers killed a penalty (with Fessenden making four saves), but fell behind 2-0 as a puck hit Quinn Green’s skate and past Fessenden with 7:49 left in the second.

UAH had a solid power play of their own, but failed to convert after three shots on Blake Pietila, who made 18 saves for his second shutout of the season. The Chargers were 0-for-2 with the power play, where they were able to put some pressure back on the Huskies.

Trenton Bliss made it 3-0 Tech on the power play with 1:28 left in the second. Tyler Rockwell scored from the high slot with 6:38 left in the third for a 4-0 MTU lead.

The Chargers rallied from a 2-0 first-period deficit and held on for a 2-2 tie against Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. on Saturday night.

UAH (0-2-1) got second-period goals from Adrian Danchenko and Tyrone Bronte and 25 saves from goaltender David Fessenden.

Game two of the series, which does not count toward the WCHA standings, is Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.

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UAH started the game by getting some penalty killing work with two penalties, but the Chargers were solid and not allowed a shot on goal.

However, the Lakers (3-0-2) later would burst ahead with two quick even-strength goals. With 6:04 remaining in the first, Miroslav Mucha pounced on a rebound in the slot and beat goaltender David Fessenden stick-side and high for a 1-0 LSSU lead. Twenty seconds later, Chase Gremlin did the same from about the same spot to make it 2-0.

UAH came right back hard in the second period.

First, at the 4:30 mark, Danchenko, on a 2-on-1 with Quinn Green, put in the rebound past LSSU goaltender Mareks Mitens on Green’s shot for this first goal of the season.

Green, who missed the first two games at Robert Morris, tallied his first college point with an assist. Ben Allen, also making his season debut, got the other helper.

Then the Charger power play went to work after a Will Reidell cross-checking penalty. Bronte, who was named WCHA and HCA national rookie of the month, buried a rebound in front off a Bauer Neudecker shot to tie the game with 14:21 left in the second. Lucas Bahn got the second assist.

It was already UAH’s fourth power play goal through three games. The Chargers are 4-for-8 with the advantage this season.

Fessenden didn’t see much action until the second half of the period, when he saw plenty of action. His biggest saves occurred during the Lakers’ power play with about four minutes to go, when the sophomore made a stick save and a glove save on a Hampus Eriksson rebound attempt within two seconds to keep the game tied at the second intermission.

The third period saw a lot of frantic action on both ends. Lake Superior had their best chance to take the lead and possibly the win on a power play with 13:32 to go, pinning the Chargers back the entire time. The Lakers did everything but score, while the Chargers did everything but clear.

LSSU finished 0-for-4 on the power play for the game and is 0-for-13 this season.

UAH’s best chance came with 7:42 left, when Danchenko was denied his second goal of the game at the Laker net by Mitens.

This season, all NCAA games go to a five-minute, sudden-death, 3-on-3 overtime period when tied after regulation. There was non-stop action for the first 4:20 of OT, but no goals were scored, and the game ended at a tie.

Lake Superior outshot UAH 27-25. Mitens finished with 23 saves.

If this were a WCHA league game, the 3-person shootout would have been used to determine which team got two points in the standings. But as this was a non-conference game, the 5-round shootout (which LSSU won 2-1) meant nothing.

A rough power-play goal was the Chargers’ undoing in a tough 4-3 loss at Robert Morris in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The Colonials got the win and the series sweep by breaking a 3-3 tie with 7:11 remaining as penalties caught up with UAH in the third period.

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It was still a better third-period effort for UAH (0-2), which allowed five goals in the final frame in Saturday. The young Chargers will carry this into their next action on December 4, a non-conference game at Ferris State.

Early on, it looked like RMU (2-0) would keep their momentum from Saturday into Sunday. The Colonials scored quickly, just 22 seconds in, as Nick Prkusic deflected a shot from the right point by Nick Jenny and hogtied Derek Krall.

Krall made his first college start Sunday. He started to settle after the first goal, and finished with 25 saves on 29 shots.

Bauer Neudecker evened the contest up at 1-1 with his second goal of the series. With 8:38 left in the first, his wrister from the left circle beat Reid Cooper high. Tyrone Bronte and Tyr Thompson got the assists.

UAH took a 2-1 lead with a power play goal at the 6:22 mark of the second period.

Following a Nolan Schaeffer boarding penalty, Dayne Finnson’s shot from the left circle hit Cooper’s glove, and the puck went up, over, and in behind him. Lucas Bahn had the assist.

UAH had another power play chance that didn’t do much, and right after it expired Robert Morris scored on a 2-on-1 to tie the game at 2-2 with 6:28 remaining in the second. Aidan Spellacy got the tally.

Each team had a power play goal in the final two minutes of the second period.

The Chargers took a 3-2 lead when Thompson poked in a loose puck on Cooper’s doorstep with 1:21 remaining. Then, following a Brian Scoville interference penalty, RMU leveled it up again on a Santeri Hartikainen one-timer from the left circle.

UAH got the penalty bug again in the third period, and it cost the Chargers with 7:11 to go. The Colonials crashed the net on their third advantage of the frame, piling on Krall. A review checked to see if the net had come off its mooring before the puck crossed the goal line was inconclusive and the call stood, giving RMU a 4-3 lead.

The Chargers had one power play chance with five minutes to go to equalize, but nothing came of it. They went 2-for-4 with the advantage.

Saturday’s starting goaltender, David Fessenden, was listed as Krall’s backup. Fessenden was removed after getting hurt in warmups before the third period Saturday.

UAH finished the 2019-20 season with a 4-1 loss to Bowling Green on Saturday at the Von Braun Center.

The Chargers end the year at 2-26-6, with a 2-20-6-1 record in WCHA play.

It was the final game at UAH for five Chargers: Austin Beaulieu, Connor James, Sean Rappleyea, Teddy Rotenberger, and Brandon Salerno.

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The Falcons outshot the Chargers 39-22. UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair had 35 saves.

Bowling Green (19-13-4, 14-10-4-3 WCHA) scored the first goal on the power play. Taylor Schneider skated in front of the UAH net and tucked the puck just inside Sinclair’s near pad with 11:15 left in the first period.

At the end of the first period, Bowling Green’s Sam Craggs puts Connor James into the boards and gets a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct.

The Chargers didn’t score during the major power play, but did score a 5-on-3 power-play goal to tie the game after a multitude of penalties on both sides.

Beaulieu deflected Connor James’s shot past Zach Rose to tie the game at 1-1 at the 7:11 mark of the second period.

It was the sixth goal of the season for Beaulieu and sixth assist for James. Josh Latta got his team-leading 11th helper.

Connor Merkley’s night ended early after crunching Jacob Dalton from behind in the Bowling Green zone. Merkley received a five-minute major and a game misconduct with 8:43 left in the period.

On the ensuing power play, the Falcons regained the lead with two goals. With 5:39 left in the second, Brandon Kruse roofed the puck from Sinclair’s left to make it 2-1. Almost two minutes later, Connor Ford’s blast from the left point slid in to make it 3-1.

Special teams will be a focus for next season, according to head coach Mike Corbett. The Chargers finished with only a 7.9 percent efficiency on the power play, and a 74 percent efficiency on the penalty kill.

It was a mostly uneventful third period. The Falcons got an empty-net goal from Carson Musser with 59.8 seconds remaining for the final score.

UAH matches the program record for fewest wins in a season with two, set in the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons.

Corbett was frank about what needs to be done during the offseason:

“Frustrating year. It could have been a lot better than what we thought. We had a lot higher expectations than the way it ended. We’ve got to learn from it.

“We’ve got to get our guys to understand what this commitment thing is. Just our entire program. Get people to understand that it’s a privilege to play. Our seniors understand now. You don’t think about it until the buzzer blows, but it’s a privilege to play Division I hockey.

“We’ve got too many guys in this room taking it for granted, and it bothers me. I don’t want that. I don’t want to be around that. We have to clean that up. I’ll talk to our seniors afterwards and ask them, what do we need to clean up? They’ll have a say in what we do and the way we move forward.

“Everybody has a different button that needs to be pushed. And when you’re with them as much as we are, you understand what that button is, and if you can’t find that button, it’s time to move on. It’s time to find players who are going to represent this university the way we need them to represent it.

“I like the young guys, but we’ve got to get them stronger for games like this, for teams like Mankato last weekend. We’ve got to really do a good job in the offseason to get our guys stronger. They’re not going to grow, but they have the ability to get stronger and we have to push them to get stronger. That’s going to be our No. 1 focus this spring.”

UAH had a chance to win with a two-goal lead and another hot outing by Mark Sinclair, but Bowling Green rallied to stun UAH 4-3 in overtime on Friday at the Von Braun Center.

The Chargers had built a 3-1 lead over the first half of the game while withstanding another barrage of shots. UAH was outshot 58-17, and had a chance at victory thanks to a Sinclair’s career-high 54-save performance.

“(Sinclair has) made those games close, and you want better for him, without a doubt,” UAH head coach Mike Corbett said. “He’s gives us a chance to win and you want to reward him.”

UAH (2-25-6, 2-19-6-1 WCHA) will finish the season Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. with Senior Day festivities prior.

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After they were shellacked at Minnesota State by a combined score of 18-0 last weekend, the Chargers showed some fight despite the shot disadvantage and built a two-goal lead.

“It’s easy to quit,” Corbett said. “It’s nice that they showed up and have pride in their performance and pride in the jersey and give these guys a run.”

UAH struck first on a nice goal by Ben Allen in the slot, his first of the season. Daneel Lategan gave him the feed from the left corner, and Allen went forehand to backhand to beat Eric Dop top shelf with 3:06 left in the first period.

Bowling Green (18-13-4, 13-10-4-3 WCHA) tied the game just 55 seconds into the second period, when Cameron Wright skated through the right circle and beat Sinclair high.

But the Chargers took the lead again almost halfway in the contest. Brandon Salerno, like Allen before him, was left alone with the puck in the slot on another feed from Lategan, and scored his third goal of the season.

Lucas Bahn got the second assists on both goals.

“Ben Allen’s line was dynamite tonight,” Corbett said. “They were probably our best line tonight and had the most energy, so I rewarded them with more ice time. We’re a team that over the course of time, that’s how it’s got to be.”

Tyr Thompson put UAH up 3-1 on yet another goal from the slot in front of the Falcon net. This time it was a rare power-play goal, assisted by Christian Rajic and Tanner Hickey, with 7:28 remaining in the second.

All three UAH goals came from down low.

“That’s why I say we have to get more pucks and bodies to the net, because there are not a lot of one shot goals any more,” Corbett said. “You have to get second chances. Goals are scored at the net.”

The Falcons trimmed UAH’s lead to 3-2 two minutes later on an Alex Barber power-play goal.

The Falcons outshot UAH 30-14 over the first two periods, but that wasn’t the end of it. BG got 17 more shots on Sinclair in the third before the Chargers finally got one a Dop with around 8:00 left in regulation.

Bowling Green tied the game at 3-3 when Will Cullen’s deflection of a centering pass easily gets by Sinclair with 11:14 left in the third.

In overtime, Max Coyle was called for a tripping penalty with 3:33 left, setting up a power play for Bowling Green. Barber was able to lift one over Sinclair to give the Falcons the victory.

“It’s the story of our season,” Corbett said. “We’re that close to being able to finish a team off. Just having that leadership in the locker room, that alpha dog who doesn’t let (giving up the lead) happen.”

The Chargers lost 3-0 to Alaska at the Von Braun Center on Saturday.

UAH (2-21-5, 2-15-5-1) was shut out for the third time this season one night after scoring a season-high six in a tie on Friday.

The Chargers are eight points behind eighth-place Alaska Anchorage with six games to play. They head to Lake Superior State next week.

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Alaska (14-13-3, 12-9-3-1 WCHA) got on the board quickly. Following a Teddy Rotenberger boarding penalty, Kylar Hope put in a rebound for a power-play goal at the 2:06 mark of the game.

But that was about it for the first period, where the Nanooks outshot the Chargers 10-7.

The Chargers looked strong early in the second but could not find the net, and Alaska went up 2-0 with another power play goal.

After Dayne Finnson’s roughing penalty, Tyler Cline scored for the Nanooks on a one-timer from the right circle.

The Chargers had two power plays in the third period to try to kickstart the offense, but did not muster a shot on goal in either of them. UAH went 0-for-4 on the power play in the game.

UAH could not solve Gustav Grigals, who stopped all 26 Charger shots for the shutout. Grigals had entered in the second period of Friday’s game in relief after the Nanooks had allowed three goals.

Tristan Thompson had a near rink-long empty-net goal with two seconds left to finish the game.

Charger netminder Mark Sinclair finished with 21 saves.

UAH was shut out at home for the first time since February 24, 2018 (3-0 to Bowling Green).

UPDATE: Freshman forward Josh Latta, UAH’s leading scorer this season, left the game late in the first period with a hand injury from being cut by a skate. His prognosis is unknown.