The Michigan Tech Huskies swept the American International Yellow Jackets Saturday with a 3-1 victory at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
Senior goaltender Josh Robinson stood tall for the Huskies in net, allowing only one goal from 31 shots faced.
“He was the difference in the game; he held us in there,” said Huskies coach Mel Pearson of Robinson’s play. “The thing I liked about it is he battled; he battled finding the puck and on the rebounds. A real solid game from Josh.”
A pair of goals from sophomore Jacob Johnstone, and a short-handed goal from senior captain Brett Olson, gave the Huskies the edge over the Yellow Jackets.
Olson started the night’s scoring four minutes into the first period on a Yellow Jackets power play. During a two-on-one rush, Olson received a pass from freshman Riley Sweeney and fired the puck top shelf over Yellow Jackets goaltender Ben Meisner.
It didn’t take long for the visitors to tie the game, as only 40 seconds later forward Adam Pleskach picked up a rebound that had bounced out of Robinson’s glove and netted AIC’s only goal of the night.
Johnstone got the game-winner only seven minutes into the first after picking up Mikael Lickteig’s rebound and sliding it under Meisner’s outstretched legs.
The Huskies kept the lead for the rest of the game, getting one more goal in the second period to end the scoring for the night.
Johnstone’s second of the night was the result of some well-timed puck handling in from of Meisner. Johnstone deked around Meisner and put the puck under his blocker.
“It was a hard-fought battle,” said Yellow Jackets coach Gary Wright. “It’s a pretty quick pace out there, and we have to play a little bit faster.”
The win gave the Huskies their first home sweep since 2007, when they defeated Minnesota State 2-0 and 7-1.
“I think it’s important for our team to learn how to win, and we did; we learned how to play with that lead tonight,” said Pearson.
The Huskies are now halfway to their overall wins from last season, and look to keep the streak going when they take on Wisconsin at home next weekend in their first WCHA action of the year.
The Yellow Jackets play next weekend in an Atlantic Hockey game against Holy Cross.
