UAH (3-10-1, 3-5-0 WCHA) at Lake Superior State (10-4-3, 4-3-0 WCHA)
WHERE: Taffy Abel Arena, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
WHEN: Friday, 6:07 p.m.; Saturday, 4:07 p.m.
WATCH: FloHockey.tv (subscription)
The Chargers continue their tour of the Upper Peninsula this weekend with a return trip to Lake Superior State.
UAH is coming off an up-and-down series at Northern Michigan, grinding out a 3-1 win on Tuesday before being grounded in an 8-2 loss on Wednesday.
The Lakers, winners in their last three games, are ranked 20th in this week’s USCHO.com poll. They won at Michigan Tech 3-1 on Tuesday after an impressive sweep at Bowling Green last weekend.
UAH and LSSU currently sit fifth and sixth in the WCHA standings. The Lakers have 11 points in seven league games while the Chargers have eight points in eight games.
The Chargers and Lakers met in Sault Ste. Marie in a non-conferernce series back on December 5-6. The teams tied 2-2 before Lake State took the finale, 3-2.
LSSU is led by junior Ashton Calder, who has 18 points in 17 games, with an even split of nine goals and nine assists. Pete Veillette has been hot as of late, with five of his 13 points and three of his seven goals coming in his last four games.
The Lakers have two senior defensemen who have double-digit points. William Riedell has 12 points with nine assists. Lukas Kaelble had three of his team-leading 10 assists against the Chargers in December.
Mareks Mitens is the Lakers’ No. 1 between the pipes, sporting a 1.79 goals against average and .939 save percentage with a shutout. He stopped 23 of 25 UAH shots in the tie in the first meeting.
Next week, UAH has a home-and-home series with Bowling Green. The Chargers visit Ohio on Wednesday and host the Falcons next Sunday.
WCHA postseason format unveiled: All eight participating WCHA teams will play in the conference’s final postseason.
The top four teams will host a best-of-3 quarterfinal series on March 12-14. The highest remaining seed will host single-game semifinals on March 19 and the championship game on March 20.
The winner of the tournament will get the WCHA’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
This week in the WCHA: All time Central.
Friday, February 19
UAH at #20 Lake Superior State, 6:07 p.m.
Bemidji State at Michigan Tech, 6:07 p.m.
Minnesota State at Ferris State, 6:07 p.m.*
Saturday, February 20
UAH at #20 Lake Superior State, 4:07 p.m.
Bowling Green at Northern Michigan, 5:07 p.m.
Bemidji State at Michigan Tech, 5:07 p.m.
Minnesota State at Ferris State, 6:07 p.m.
Sunday, February 21
Bowling Green at Norhtern Michigan, 3:07 p.m.
Tuesday, February 23
Lake Superior State at Michigan Tech, 1:07 p.m.
*Non-conference game.