Michigan Tech 4, UAH 1

Blake Pietila and Tanner Kero each scored two goals to lead the host Michigan Tech Huskies (11-14-6 overall, 9-8-4 WCHA) over UAH (1-27-1 overall, 1-17-1 WCHA) by a 4-1 score at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton, Mich.

The Chargers’ lone goal came at 9:28 of the third period just as a Husky penalty expired.  A shot into the pads of MTU netminder Pheonix Copley (20 sv, 7-8-5) settled at the feet of senior winger Alex Allan (Calgary, Alb.), who skated right-to-left across the goal mouth to beat Copley to the left-wing post to net his team-leading fifth goal of the season.  Jack Prince (Leicester, England) and Doug Reid (Innisfil, Ont.) picked up the assists, their third and fifth, respectively.

Carmine Guerriero (Montréal, QC, 38 sv, 1-14-0) got the start in net for the Chargers, leaving for an apparent groin injury with 11:05 left in regulation.  Matt Larose (Nainaimo, B.C., 9 sv) came in to relieve his fellow freshman, allowing Pietila’s second marker.

In all, the Chargers killed four of their five power plays, including a checking-from-behind major on Chad Brears just 0:40 into the second period.

The Chargers face the Huskies at 4:07 p.m. Huntsville time on Saturday afternoon.

Alaska 6, UAH 1

The Alaska Nanooks (11-12-4, 8-11-2 WCHA) stormed out to an early lead and rode three third-period goals to win going away hosting our beloved UAH Chargers (1-25-1, 1-15-1 WCHA) in Fairbanks.  Six different Nanooks scored goals on the evening.

The story of this game is one that we’ve told you once or twice before: UAH quickly goes down by two, rallies, hangs in there, and fades at the end.  It is Friday, after all.  Here’s the story:

  1. The Nanooks went out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first 7:10 off of goals from Jared Larson and Marcus Basara.
  2. The boys put the clamps down at that point, and while Matt Larose (38 sv) was getting it done in the Chargers’ end, the boys started to leak out offensively.  And then BEHOLD! A MisuROCKET appeared, beating Sean Cahill (12 sv) over the shoulder with 1:04 left in the first.  Assists on the goal went to Matt Salhany and Joakim Broberg.
  3. The buzz you might have expected coming into the second didn’t appear to be long-lived, as neither team had much life for most of the second period.
  4. A tired Chargers squad took an icing penalty late in the second, and the Nanooks capitalized when Jared Linell banged a puck home just outside the crease.
  5. The Nanooks pulled away in the third on goals from Garrick Perry (9:15), Colton Parayko (10:45, PPG), and Colton Beck (13:42).

Larose falls to 0-13-1 on the season.  The two teams face off to conclude the season series at 10:07 p.m. Huntsville time on Saturday.   This week’s Catching the Game has all the information you need to stay in tune with the Chargers on these late nights.

Notre Dame 7, UAH 1

Well, we knew that tonight was about being on a national stage.  The UAH cheerleaders should send some kit to Anson Carter, because he sung our praises all night long, starting with Mike Corbett at the top and going through the rest of the lineup.  Unfortunately for the Chargers, those were most of the main highlights on the play on a night that saw Bryan Rust net a hat trick for the Fighting Irish (10-8-1), who got goals from four other players for a 7-1 victory over UAH (1-22-0).

UAH was down early again, with Robbie Russo roofing a puck just :38 in past UAH goaltender Matt Larose (0-12-0, 30SV).  The boys weathered the storm after that, but two goals in 2:05 in the middle of the first left the Chargers facing an 0-3 deficit.

Notre Dame dominated the second period with an 18-4 shots-on-goal advantage, and the score at the end of the middle 20:00 reflected it.  You didn’t feel that the Chargers were out of it until the fifth goal, when the Irish had a power play because of a weak call against Regan Soquila for charging at UND netminder Chad Katunar (2-1-0, 16SV) when he was really just crashing the net and made just incidental contact.  Unfortunately for UAH, Carter was not wearing an orange armband over the killer suit that he was wearing, and you knew that the Chargers, who have now scored just 23 goals on the season, were not going to summon the thunder of Thor to smite the Irish down.

There were two bright spots for the team, and if you’ve followed along, you can guess them.

  1. There was no quit in the Chargers.  We’ve come to expect that.
  2. Matt Salhany (3rd goal) was a factor on the forecheck, scoring a goal in the third when he and linemates Joakim Broberg and Brent Fletcher (3rd assist) were mucking “down in the blue”, as Coach Corbett likes to say, after Graeme Strukoff (2nd assist) fed the puck into the scrum.

The teams face off tomorrow night at 6:05 p.m. Huntsville time.  As always, UAHHockey.com has info on how to keep up with the Chargers’ third and final game against Notre Dame this season.  We hope that you’ll tune in then, when we’ll be hoping for a good Saturday result.