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.”

UAH and Alaska Anchorage played to a 2-2 tie in Anchorage on Saturday, with UAA getting the extra WCHA point in the 3-on-3 overtime period.

The Chargers (1-19-4, 1-13-4-1 WCHA) ended a six-game losing streak, but their winless streak is now at 11 games (0-8-3).

Alaska Anchorage (4-14-4, 4-11-3-3 WCHA) took five of six points on the weekend, just as it did in Huntsville back in November.

There was no scoring in the first period. The Chargers had a couple of prime chances, but they were stymied by UAA goaltender Brandon Perrone, who was making his first collegiate start.

Perrone made a prime right pad save on Josh Latta alone in the slot, and then made a swinging glove save on Connor Merkley’s drive through traffic.

Alaska Anchorage scored a power-play goal at 12:07 of the second period following back-to-back penalties on Max Coyle and Dayne Finnson. Luc Brown powered a one-timer from the left point.

UAH tied the game at 1-1 as Finnson came out of the penalty box. Finnson found Lucas Bahn in front of the net, and the Henderson, Tennessee native notched his first collegiate goal and point with 5:59 left in the second.

With 12 seconds left in the second period, Josh Latta scored his sixth goal of the season to give the Chargers a 2-1 lead.

At the same time, Daneel Lategan, who passed to Latta for the primary assist, was hit in the head by UAA’s Aaron McPheters, who had launched himself. McPheters got a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

UAH began the third with almost all the major power play, but Anchorage tied the game at 2-2 with a short-handed goal. Alex Frye had the steal in the neutral zone, a breakaway, a deke on Mark Sinclair, and the goal at the 2:05 mark.

No scoring in the overtime period resulted in a draw. In the 3-on-3 overtime, Tanner Schachle scored with 2:18 remaining.

Sinclair had 19 saves total, while Perrone had 20.

The Chargers are off next week before hosting Michigan Tech (Jan. 31-Feb. 1) and Alaska (Feb. 7-8).

Bemidji State overcame the Chargers coming out of their power-play slump, rallying in the third period to defeat UAH 4-3 at the Von Braun Center on Friday to complete a series sweep.

The Chargers (1-18-3 overall, 1-12-3-1 WCHA) had a prime opportunity to get back into the win column thanks in part to three power-play goals, two by freshman Josh Latta.

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Bemidji State’s Adam Brady scored the game-winner on a late power play, which came on a controversial boarding penalty called on UAH’s Bailey Newton with 5:24 left in the game.

UAH heads to Alaska Anchorage next weekend desperately needing points to get back into the WCHA playoff race. The Chargers are in 10th, six points behind UAA and seven behind Ferris State.

“It’s the same old song, and I hate saying it over and over and I want better for our players, but I liked our effort and I think we deserved something better,” UAH head coach Mike Corbett said.

Bemidji State (12-7-3, 12-3-1-0) struck first with 3:26 left in the first period. Sam Solensky, a freshman playing in just his fourth college game, scored on a one-timer in the slot following a centering pass from behind the net.

But UAH tied it up in the final seconds of the period after an Alex Ierullo cross-checking penalty for BSU. Latta poked the puck from underneath goaltender Zach Driscoll, who thought he was interferenced with, for his fifth goal of the season.

Austin Beaulieu and Dayne Finnson assisted on the goal, which ended a streak of 45 unsuccessful power plays. UAH had last scored with the advantage on November 9.

Bemidji State kept the Chargers in their own end for most of the second period, and really tested Mark Sinclair with bursts of shots on the junior.

The Beavers put 20 shots on goal in the frame, and Sinclair stopped all but one: a Charlie Combs deflection of a Tommy Muck centering pass with 39 seconds left to put Bemidji State up 2-1.

UAH had a critical chance about four mintues into the third period when Bemidji State’s Alex Adams elbowed Tyr Thompson high. Video review said contact to the head, ending Adams’s night.

The Chargers capitalized on the major power play with two goals to take the lead.

First, with 12:54 remaining, Austin Beaulieu put back Max Coyle’s shot to tie the game at 2-2. Dayne Finnson also assisted for his second of the game.

Second, about a minute later and two seconds left on the major power play, Latta notches his second goal of the night, putting in a centering pass from Bauer Neudecker on the right side to put the Chargers up 3-2.

“(Latta) is getting to the front of the net and scoring those goals,” Corbett said. “That’s what we need him to do, big goals in big times.”

“It’s all because of playing with (Rajic) and (Beaulieu),” Latta said. “I think we are all complementary of each other. The way we play, we each bring something a little bit unique. Raj is so good off the rush. Being able to pull up and create time and let plays develop. Beaulsy gets off the forecheck so well and he’s so good on the wall.

“We got three goals (on the power play), and being able to get two there (on the major power play) was a nice relief.”

With 9:43 remaining in regulation, the Beavers quickly tied it up as Nick Cardelli slipped the puck just inside the post on Sinclair’s right.

Then came Newton’s hit on Combs, which elicited a questionable boarding call. Combs looked to have hit the boards but not as a result of Newton’s hit.

The hit occurred against the wall and obstructed from the UAH bench. Corbett said he would have to take a look at it on video.

“It’s a tough play at the end,” Corbett. “You want big hits at that point in time of the game.”

UAH was shorthanded anyway, and it cost them.

Brady scored on a wicked shot from the left circle with 4:34 remaining to put BSU ahead 4-3.

The Chargers had one final press to tie the game, only able to pull Sinclair for the extra attacker with 17 seconds to go.

“(Christian) Rajic had the chance on the backdoor with the rebound, and they’re goalie came across and made the save,” Corbett said.

UAH finished with 32 shots on goal in the contest, tied for second most on the season.

“I thought we were better tonight than we were last night, especially just capitalizing on our chances,” Latta said. “I think we got over 30 shots tonight, which we haven’t done very often this season, which is encouraging.”

Sinclair finished with 36 saves as the Beavers finished with 40 shots on goal.

“(Sinclair) played well again,” Corbett said. “He’s another one of those guys you want better for, because he’s competing in the net and giving us a chance to win. We’ve got to pick him up one of these nights.”

“As good as Mark is, he’s good for us every night, sometimes they find a way to score because we give them too much time,” Latta said. “We’ve got to be better defensively and not have these five-minute lapses we tend to have.”

Photo by Kelsey Lee / Violet Turtle Photography. Post-game video by Seamore Sports.

Once again, the Chargers were close entering the third period against the No. 1 team in the country, but North Dakota showed why it’s No. 1 and eventually denied UAH the chance of an upset.

The Fighting Hawks won 5-2 for the second straight night in Grand Forks on Saturday.

Still, considering the struggles the Chargers have had this season, UAH head coach Mike Corbett found the experience beneficial for his club.

“It was a one-goal game pretty much for both nights,” Corbett said. “I think that’s against the legit No. 1 team in the country. It’s a confidence booster. It’s not the end result, but our process was pretty good.”

“We want to go after the top guys. It’s a great opportunity for our program. Read the box score it’s supposed to be read. We were in it and our guys played their butts off.”

UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair did all he could again, stopping 33 of 37 shots.

“Sinclair’s been good since Thanksgiving,” Corbett said. “He’s seeing about 75 shots this weekend, he’s hanging in there and giving us a chance to win.”

“It’s always tough coming in and playing the No. 1 team in the country,” Sinclair said. “Our guys competed right through. Our penalty kill was great, guys blocking shots, battling for pucks.”

The Chargers resume league action at home this Thursday and Friday against Bemidji State.

“I think it shows that we can compete with anyone,” Charger forward Josh Latta said. “North Dakota is like the pinnacle of most programs that you want to strive towards. Playing against Bemidji, we have to play the exact same way with the same intensity.”

North Dakota (16-1-2) opened the scoring when Sinclair could not pick up a Matt Kierstad blast up the middle that was tipped by Westin Michaud. The goal came at the 4:54 mark.

UND made it 2-0 with 10:52 left in the first period on a power play goal. Collin Adams beat Sinclair stick side from the right circle.

The Chargers cut the lead in half about four minutes later on a similar goal by Connor Merkley. His third goal of the season was over Adam Scheel (11 saves) after a nifty cross-ice pass from Jack Jeffers, who notched his fifth assist of the season. Peyton Francis got his second assist.

UAH tied the game early in the second period. Latta was robbed by Scheel from the slot, but Austin Beaulieu back-handed the rebound in for his second goal of the season.

Latta had his team-leading ninth assist of the season and third of the series.

“It was our whole line,” Latta said. “Christian Rajic and Austin Beaulieu are great guys to play with and go to open ice really well. They support the puck and put forth a lot of energy, so it makes my job easy.

“We capitalized on the chances we got for the most part. We could have had a few more.”

“We’ve got a freshman (in Latta) who’s starting to be able to put up some points for us,” Corbett said. “We’re not a scoring juggernaut by any means, so more guys chipping in for us, the better.”

UND regained the lead at 3-2 at the 3:51 mark of the second with a highlight-reel goal. A shot off Sinclair trickled to the right post, and Jordan Kawaguchi put it in from behind the goal line and his stick between his legs.

In the handshake line following the game, Sinclair, who played with Kawaguchi at Chilliwack of the BCHL, said to Kawaguchi, “You had to do that, hey?”

“I played with him in Chilliwack so I got to see it a lot in practice,” Sinclair said. “His work ethic is unbelieveable. He’s very tough to knock off the puck.”

Three minutes into the third period, the Hawks extended their lead to 4-2 when Ethan Frisch blasted one up the middle from inside the blue line.

Shane Pinto, just back with North Dakota after playing for Team USA in the World Junior Championships, put in an empty-net goal with 20 second remaining.

Perhaps indicative of the number of close losses the Chargers have had, it was the eighth empty-net goal UAH has allowed this season.

North Dakota won its 13th straight game at home, a Ralph Engelstad Arena record. The Fighting Hawks are unbeaten in their last 15 games overall.

One battle the Chargers did win was in faceoffs, 30-29.

UAH scored twice in the first period, then relied on Mark Sinclair to hold on for a 2-2 tie against Ferris State on Friday.

The Chargers (1-13-3 overall, 1-9-3-1 WCHA) got two points in the WCHA contest after Liam Izyk scored in the 3-on-3 second overtime period. UAH has ties in its last two games.

Sinclair made 38 saves for the second straight game. He has made 32 or more saves in his last four starts.

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Ferris State fell to 5-9-2 overall and 3-6-2-0 in WCHA play. Game two of the series is Saturday at 6:37 p.m. Central Time.

Josh Latta put the Chargers up 1-0 at the 2:24 mark by putting in a rebound around FSU goaltender Austin Shaw (25 saves) for his third goal of the season.

Drew Lennon got his first point of the season with primary assist, and Christian Rajic also got a helper.

Connor Wood was grimacing in pain from the bench after FSU’s Hunter Wendt checked him from behind, but was able to stay in the game. Wendt was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

During the major power play, UAH had two shots on goal, but so did the Bulldogs on two shorthanded breakaways. Mark Sinclair made the big saves to keep FSU off the board.

Ferris State survived the penalty, but went down 2-0 after Connor Merkley fired a goal in from the high slot. Lennon got his second assist of the game.

The second period belonged to the Bulldogs, who outshot the Chargers 19-5. Sinclair was still solid, but it felt like Ferris State would eventually break through, which it did with 35 seconds remaining.

Marshall Moise slipped one past Sinclair right in front of the crease to cut UAH’s lead to 2-1 at the second intermission.

The first half of the third period was relatively quiet, but the Chargers finally started generating more opportunities in the second half.

However, Moise, scoring twice in his first game after being out for six weeks, would tie the game at 2-2 for the Bulldogs with a high floater from the left point with 4:45 left in regulation.

No scoring in overtime, but not before Sinclair made a couple of critical saves in the final 10 seconds to seal the tie.

With 1:48 left in the 3-on-3 overtime, Jack Jeffers appeared to score just inside the right goal post, but the official waved it off. Shaw didn’t react quick enough, and Izyk followed up and scored in the open net to give UAH the second WCHA point.