Sullivan, MTU Finish Sweep Of UAA

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Defenseman Brad Sullivan had a goal and an assist Saturday night as Michigan Tech beat Alaska-Anchorage, 3-1, to complete a weekend sweep.

Colin Murphy and Bryan Perez each had a pair of assists for the Huskies (7-13-4, 4-9-3 WCHA). Cam Ellsworth made 35 saves, including several key stops down the stretch.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we dodged a bullet and we’re happy about that,” Tech coach Mike Sertich said.

Freshman defenseman Daron Underwood scored his first career goal for the Seawolves (1-16-7, 0-14-6). UAA has now gone 23 games without a win.

UAA’s John Hopson appeared to score the tying goal at the 8:08 mark of the third period. The goal light came on, the Seawolves gathered to celebrate and … referee Derek Shepherd waved it off immediately.

Shepherd conferred with assistant referees Brien Ricci and Sean Jacques and the goal judge, but none of them could confirm that the puck ever entered the net. So Shepherd’s initial ruling stood, and there was no goal.

Sullivan scored the only goal in the opening period. Colin Murphy set up behind the net and hit a streaking, wide-open Sullivan, who beat helpless UAA goaltender Kevin Reiter from the low slot.

Chris Conner made it 2-0 with 1:12 left in the second period. The freshman winger took a cross-crease pass from Perez and squeezed a shot through Reiter’s legs for his ninth goal.

Underwood cut the Seawolves’ deficit in half when his bullet from the left point found the top right corner of the net for a power-play goal at 3:07 of the third period.

Senior Chris Durno, who continues to play the best hockey of his career, capped another solid outing with an empty-net goal at 19:59. He now has a career-best six-game point streak.

“It was nice to get a goal at the end,” Durno said. “It was icing on the cake.”