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.
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.