The Chargers’ first victory still proved elusive Sunday, as they fell to Lake Superior State 3-2 in Sault Ste. Marie. Brian Scoville and Frank Vitucci scored their first collegiate goals for UAH.
The Chargers (0-3-1), who took their second one-goal loss of the season, will head to Ferris State for a single game on Tuesday to finish non-conference play and the calendar year 2020.
UAH dodged a bullet with 6:54 left in the first period. The Lakers’ Yuki Miura had a short-handed breakaway, and the Chargers’ Lucas Bahn tripped him up as the UAH power play was expiring.
Miura was awarded a penalty shot, the first against UAH in three years, but Krall was able to make the save to keep the game scoreless.
But the Lakers would get the first goal a minute later. Their leading scorer, junior Ashton Calder, put in a rebound on an open net in front for his fourth goal of the season.
Lake Superior scored in the final minute as Brandon Puricelli slipped one through the legs of Derek Krall, who was making his second start in goal. The Chargers faced the same situation as Saturday’s game, going down 2-0 after one period.
Like Saturday, which ended in a 2-2 tie, UAH came out strong and started a rally in the second period, even though the Chargers found themselves short handed for a bit of it.
During a Scoville cross-checking penalty in the first minute, Vitucci had a shorthanded breakaway that hit the crossbar. Then Tyrone Bronte and Bauer Neudecker had a 2-on-1 break with Ayodele Adeniye getting a shot on new LSSU goaltender Seth Eisele backing them up.
Scoville would put the Chargers on the board during a 4-on-4 situation with 11:02 remaining in the second period. He scored on a rebound as Quinn Green was taken down while taking the initial shot.
The second period was the most penalty-filled. There were nine infractions called, with five on UAH and four on Lake Superior.
The Chargers outshot the Lakers 10-1 in the second at one point, finishing with an 11-6 advantage in the frame.
This time, though, UAH would not find the equalizer in the second, and allowed an early goal in the third. Miroslav Mucha one-timed a face-off win past Krall for a 3-1 Laker lead at the 1:36 mark.
But the Chargers answered two minutes later. Vitucci’s rifle wrister from the slot beat Ethan Langenegger high. Conor Witherspoon got the assist for his first point.
With not nearly as many penalties and stoppages, most of the third period breezed by. Before you knew it, the Chargers were pulling Krall with 2:07 remaining for the extra attacker.
However, UAH could not get the equalizer.
Krall had 16 saves in the contest.
The Lakers used all three of their goaltenders in the game. Senior Mareks Mitens (8 saves) started, Eisele (10 saves) played the second period, and Langenegger (3 saves) the third.