UAH couldn’t hold off the Huskies forever.
Michigan Tech, whose potent offense was shut out Friday, scored early in the third period and early in overtime to defeat the Chargers 2-1 on Saturday in Houghton to force a series split.
Greyson Reitmeier scored the game-winner 1:11 into overtime for the Huskies (10-7-1 overall, 9-2-1 WCHA), who moved into first place in the WCHA standings ahead of Minnesota State. UAH fell to 3-15-0 overall and 3-8-0 in WCHA play.
The loss overshadowed another brilliant performance by UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair, who was busy again with another 35 saves. Along with the 39-save shutout Friday, Sinclair stopped 74 of 76 Michigan Tech shots.
The Chargers scored first again at the 9:39 mark, at approximately the same time they scored the only goal of the game on Friday.
Jack Jeffers got a steal near center ice, and sent it to Bauer Neudecker on the right for a 2-on-1 break. Neudecker centered the puck back to Jeffers in the slot, who softly deflected it over Robbie Beydoun for his fifth goal of the season.
After that the rest of the period was mostly in the UAH end. The Huskies fired 15 shots on Sinclair in the frame, but the sophomore had great glove work to limit rebounds and second chance opportunities.
There was no scoring in the second period this time, either. It was another frustrating period for Tech, who spent the bulk of the period in the UAH zone again. The best scoring chances came for UAH during and after their first power play, which didn’t come until 3:19 left in the second.
As an example of the puck luck the Chargers had been getting in this series, a Husky shot early in the second hit Sinclair and bounced over him. He put his glove behind his back and the puck went off his glove and wide. The puck then landed and sat just outside the crease before the Chargers finally cleared it.
However, Michigan Tech would finally break through on the power play early in the third period. Tommy Parrottino took a nifty feed from Colin Swoyer and beat Sinclair to snap their scoring drought and tie the game at 1-1 at the 3:15 mark.
UAH actually was able to get some consistent puck possession in the third period, although it did not lead to any more goals. And in the end, the Charger offense could not do much being outshot 37-15 for the game and 76-32 for the series.
The Chargers had one last big chance with a power play with 2:55 left in regulation when Swoyer committed an interference penalty, but Beydoun, who finished with 14 saves, also would not allow second chances.
In overtime, Reitmeier tipped in the winning goal on an Alec Broetzman shot.
The Chargers’ next action is at the Catamount Cup in Burlington, Vt., where they will take on host Vermont on Dec. 28 and Northeaster on Dec. 29 to finish non-conference play. The next WCHA series is Jan. 4-5 against Ferris State at the Von Braun Center.