Alabama scored with 1:56 remaining in overtime to beat UAH 3-2 at the College Hockey South Veterans Cup on Friday at the Huntsville Ice Sports Center.
UAH (5-6-1) will face Middle Tennessee, who lost 5-4 to Auburn in the opener, in the third-place game on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Frozen Tide (9-5-0) will play Auburn in the championship game at 6:30.
It was the third time in three meetings that the two clubs went into overtime. Each team won an OT game when UAH and Alabama met in Huntsville in October.
This time, Max Savaloja won the rubber match for the Tide, sending the Chargers to their fourth straight loss.
The loss also spoiled another great outing for UAH goaltender Cameron Crawford, who made 45 saves. Alabama outshot the Chargers 47-31 in the match.
Matthew Dumond scored the lone goal of the first period for Alabama, but UAH tied the game at 1-1 two minutes into the second period as Kolton Watts notched his 10th goal of the season.
UAH took a 2-1 lead 27 seconds into the third period, as Bradly McDonald’s redirect of Josh Corrow’s shot found its way past Tide goaltender Luc Haggitt.
Alabama tied the game at 2-2 with 8:18 remaining in regulation on a Jacob Best goal.