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Licking wounds: Huskies take two weeks to practice after losses

David J. Phillip/AP Photo Michigan Tech’s Jake Lucchini falls attempting to make a play in front of Minnesota-Duluth goaltender Hunter Shepard during a game Friday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Huskies hockey team fell to the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs last weekend in their season-opening series at home 2-1 and 5-2. After the losses, the Huskies find themselves on the outside looking in, having fallen from No. 19 to receiving votes in the latest USCHO poll.

Head coach Joe Shawhan wants his young team to learn from this experience before playing a series at Wisconsin, starting on Friday, Oct. 26.

“We did some line-changing,” he said. “We tried to to do that on Saturday, but we (haven’t found) it yet, so it’s going to be a work in progress. We’ll keep working.

“I do know that with our defensive core, we’re going to need to give them a lot of support. I don’t think we helped them out that much this (past) weekend.”

Shawhan, having had time to digest the weekend, felt one major part of the game was missing.

“The biggest thing that we (can) get out of Saturday’s game is how hard you have to work, the (level of) commitment you have, (and how to) get in the right preparation and mindset that you have to have to play at this level consistently,” he said.

“On Saturday, I think we were exposed in a lot of ways and in some facets. We didn’t give (the defense) a lot of help either. We left a lot of loose guys standing around. They had to make decisions on who was the most dangerous and, on top of that, we were not great with the puck.”

Shawhan felt there were still other problems to sort through.

“We need to get better at everything,” he said, “every part of our game has to get better. Special teams were ineffective this weekend. Every part of our game needs work and improvement.”

With a good chunk of the freshman class in the lineup at various points over the weekend, Shawhan is still looking to his upperclassman to take on leadership roles.

“We have to do a better job at holding accountability within our players,” said Shawhan. “Our veterans need to help us hold that accountability. I think our biggest thing is that we have to find that anchor (and) stabilizing force that gets us on the course that we need.”

Despite the outcome, freshman Brian Halonen and Alec Broetzman were two strong forwards who earned high praise after Saturday’s effort. Andrew Bellant’s first career goal tied the game at 1-1.

“I thought Halonen competed well,” Shawhan said. “I thought Broetzman competed well.

“It was good to see Bellant score on Saturday night, in his first game, but it seemed like the gritty guys were able to get things done, the guys that naturally have some compete level to them.”

Freshman defenseman Eric Gotz and Colin Swoyer also showed promise with a strong delivery in Friday night’s 2-1 loss.

“I think Eric Gotz may have been our top defenseman in the game on Friday,” said Shawhan. “He separated well, made good decisions with the puck and defended well. Colin Swoyer, other than some turnovers on the powerplay, played a good, solid game. Our young guys on Friday night did well.”

Sophomore defenseman Cooper Watson was also mentioned as a highly motivated player who was able to score a late goal on Saturday.

“Cooper Watson is, by far, our most aggressive defenseman,” Shawhan said. “He scored a goal for us, so it was fitting. (He) gives us a good talking point with our group to show how you’re rewarded if you play the game the way that it’s suppose to be played.”

The Huskies battled issues with special teams last season but Shawhan hopes to change that narrative this season.

“We’ve been fighting the penalty kill for two years,” he said. “We’ve had some players in the past that (were reliable) when we needed them. (When) we needed a shutdown, we were able to get it.

“Last year, we struggled with it the entire year. You can’t hide from things. The things that you can’t resolve end up being the things that come back and bite you a little bit.

When asked what seems to be at issue with special teams early this season, Shawhan feels that part of the problem is finding the right players to play in those situations.

“I think right now it’s personnel,” he said. “I think the answers might be in our youth because that seems to be where a lot of our compete comes from. It’s a work in progress (that) we’ll keep trying to find the answers.”

While senior Devin Kero played well Friday and fought hard again Saturday, Shawhan is looking to work in junior Matt Jurusik against his old team next Friday. Jurusik posted a save percentage of .882 and 3.72 goals against average with the Badgers while fighting through injuries over the year and a half he was there. “It looks like (Matt Jurusik) will be back and available for his first start, potentially against Wisconsin,” Shawhan said. “It looks like he’s ready to play now, so he’s on the ice practicing. I like where our goaltending is at. Last week at this time, not so much, but right now it seems to be in a pretty good place (that) seems to be evolving.”

The Huskies will travel to Madison on Oct. 26-27 for two non-conference games.

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