Chad Rau and Addison DeBoer scored for Colorado College as the Tigers hung on for a 2-1 win over Michigan Tech in WCHA play Saturday night.
The No. 15 Huskies received a goal from Malcolm Gwilliam and a solid performance between the pipes from sophomore goaltender Rob Nolan.
The Huskies controlled the play in the first period — tying a single-period season-best with 14 shots on goal while giving up only eight — but still found themselves down a goal during the first intermission.
Rau put the home team on the scoreboard on a power-play goal at the 7:19 mark of the opening stanza. Rau picked up a loose puck near the left faceoff circle, skated into the slot and put a shot over Nolan’s left shoulder to give the Tigers (5-4-1, 2-2-0 WCHA) a 1-0 advantage. Brian Connelly and Cody Lampl were credited with assists on the goal.
The Huskies had several solid scoring opportunities during the opening frame, including a hard wrist shot from the slot by Ryan Angelow, but were unable to solve Tigers’ netminder Matt Zaba.
DeBoer gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead at 2:46 of the second period with his third goal of the season off an assist from Lee Sweatt. DeBoer got behind the Michigan Tech defense and took a long outlet pass from Sweatt before firing the puck just above Nolan’s outstretched glove.
Nolan kept the Huskies within striking distance during the middle frame with a host of spectacular saves, including a sliding kick-save on Scott Thauwald during a Colorado College 4-on-1 rush and a flashy glove save on a hard wrister by Scott McCulloch.
Gwilliam cut the Tigers’ lead in half at the 17:12 mark of the second period on his second career goal off a pass from Phil Axtell. Gwilliam created a Colorado College turnover in the neutral zone and proceeded to join Axtell on a rush up-ice. Axtell then dropped a pass to Gwilliam, who came to a complete standstill just inside the blue line before rifling a shot past Zaba.
The final period saw the two teams battle to a stalemate, as Nolan and Zaba both stood tall in goal for their respective clubs.
The Huskies had one final chance to tie the game when Colorado College’s Derek Patrosso was whistled for cross-checking with 1:47 remaining, but were unable to convert on the man-advantage.
Nolan stopped 23 of 25 shots for the Huskies, while Zaba made 30 saves in goal for the Tigers. Michigan Tech finished with a 31-25 shot advantage in the game.
