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Penalties Hurt Michigan Tech In WCHA Title Game
 ST. PAUL, Minn.---In the only matchup of top-five-ranked teams in college hockey Saturday, Minnesota State defeated Michigan Tech 5-2 in the WCHA Tournament Championship game. The Huskies carried a 2-1 lead eight minutes into the third period before the Mavericks scored four unanswered to claim the Broadmoor Trophy. Michigan Tech (29-9-2) will now await an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Pairings will be announced via a live selection show on Sunday. Tech got on the board 6:04 into the game when Blake Pietila pounded home a rebound on the power play. David Johnstone fired a shot from the left dot that rebounded off Stephon Williams to Pietila in the slot. The senior tallied his 14th of the season and fifth on the man advantage. Johnstone and Shane Hanna drew the assists. MSU answered three minutes later on the rush. Brett Stern carried the puck all the way into the zone and behindJamie Phillips' goal before finding Chase Grant out front for a quick shot. The score was 1-all after 20 minutes. Tech earned its second power play of the contest 2:07 into the second and scored 37 seconds later as Alex Petan's shot from the center blue line found its way through traffic past Williams. Petan's first point since Feb. 14 and his 15th tally of the season was assisted by Johnstone and Hanna. It was Johnstone's fifth assist on the weekend. The Mavericks (29-7-3) had their second power play of the game later in the frame, but Tech killed it off. The Black and Gold posted a 12-4 advantage in shots on goal during a dominant middle stanza. The game became a special teams battle in the third period. Tech killed off back-to-back penalties early in the frame, then gave up the tying goal 8:08 into the period. Brad McClure then scored the first of a natural hat trick with 8:31 to play on an odd-man rush. McClure's next two goals were both on the man advantage as Tech was put short-handed three times in the final six minutes. "Congrats to Minnesota State," said Tech coach Mel Pearson. "There's a reason they're one of the best teams, if not the best team in the country. I thought we had two really good periods. It's tough enough to beat them 5-on-5, let alone 5-on-4." Tech was called for seven penalties to MSU's three. The Huskies finished 2-for-3 on the man advantage while MSU was 2-for-7. Final shots on goal totals favored the Mavericks by a slim 28-25 margin. Johnstone and Tyler Heinonen were both named to the WCHA All-Tournament team. MSU's McClure, Alex Palmquist, Brett Stern and Williams were also named to the team. Michigan Tech will look to break a 34-year NCAA Tournament draught when the pairings are announced tomorrow. The Huskies are hosting a watch party for alumni and fans at Eagle Creek Grille, located across the street from Xcel Energy Center. GAME NOTES: The game was Tech's 14th against a nationally-ranked opponent this season. It is 7-6-1 in those games … The game featured the two teams with the top winning percentage in NCAA Division I hockey … The Huskies and Mavericks had never met in the postseason prior to tonight. Below is the story from Michigan Tech's semifinal victory. ST. PAUL, Minn. — Michigan Tech will play for the Broadmoor Trophy in the championship game of the WCHA Final Five on Saturday after defeating Bowling Green 5-2 in Friday's (March 20) semifinal. The Huskies got two goals from Tyler Heinonen and one each from Reid Sturos, Michael Neville and Joel L'Esperance in their first win at the Final Five Tournament since 1996. "I'm really proud of the team," said Tech coach Mel Pearson. "We didn't have our best start, and Bowling Green's a really good team. But we found a way to get the win." The Falcons got on the board first as Mitchell McLain tipped home a centering feed at the 10:20 mark. Tech answered just less than two minutes later as Mark Auk fired a shot from the left point that was redirected to the back of the net by Sturos. Blake Pietila drew the secondary assist on Sturos' sixth goal of the season (third in the last seven games). The Huskies continued to work on the offensive end with a Cliff Watson shot that hit David Johnstone's skate in front of the net. Heinonen corralled the puck and made a move around goaltender Tommy Burke for his fifth goal in the last five games. BGSU had a golden opportunity to tie the game with 2:15 remaining in the frame, but Jamie Phillips slid across to close down an open net and rob a goal. The teams skated through the second period exchanging blows. L'Esperance and Alex Petan both had point-blank chances on Burke that were saved. Phillips also played well, making eight saves in the second and denying several good Falcons' tries. Bowling Green had its third power play of the game just three seconds into the third period, but Tech killed it off. Just moments after the power play ended, the Falcons tied the score as Brent Tate tipped a shot from the right point behind Phillips. BGSU was still pressuring the Huskies in Tech's end three minutes later. Late in a shift, Johnstone collected the puck and lobbed a pass from the defensive zone to a streaking Heinonen entering the BGSU zone. The sophomore buried his second of the night top shelf over the glove of Burke and changed the momentum of the game. Johnstone hit the 100-point mark for his career with the helper. Tech earned a two-goal lead with 12:06 to play as—just like its first goal of the game—Auk sent a shot on net from the left point. This time it was Neville getting the tip for his third goal of the season. Johnstone picked up his third assist of the night on the play. L'Esperance added an empty net goal for the final margin. Heinonen was credited with an assist for the first three-point game of his career. Thanks to a 15-7 advantage in shots in the third period, Tech finished with a 32-24 edge for the game. Phillips posted 22 saves including several of the spectacular variety to earn his nation-leading 28th win of the season. Due to illness all for the past several days, he was a game-time decision. "We weren't sure we were going to start Jamie. He's been battling the flu, but we went with him and I'm glad we did," added Pearson. "I'm really happy for our fans. We had great support from Tech fans tonight." Michigan Tech, which now has a 29-8-2 overall record, will play for the WCHA Tournament championship for the first time since 1996, when it defeated St. Cloud State 4-3 in overtime in the semifinals and lost to Minnesota 7-2 in the title game. |
