Daily Mining Gazette/Dave Archambeau Michigan Tech’s T.J. Polglaze gets wrapped up with Alabama-Huntsville’s Dayne Finnson during a game Friday at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

HOUGHTON — Despite throwing 39 shots at Alabama-Huntsville Chargers goaltender Mark Sinclair, the Michigan Tech Huskies could not find a way to beat him Friday night in a 1-0 loss at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

The Chargers struck 10:30 into the contest on a screened shot from Bailey Newton that found its way past Huskies netminder Robbie Beydoun along the ice.

The Huskies did not respond with the type of intensity that they needed to even the game, but coach Joe Shawan was happy to see his team play more as a unit, despite the outcome.

“Well, I don’t think we showed up with the intensity,” he said. “We have to be able to compete at this level. We were looking for very soft ice. (We were) probably a little bit better then (where we were) a week ago as far as playing as a unit, but (we had) no sustained fourcheck pressure.”

Shawhan felt the Huskies lost a lot of battles and turned the puck over too much to be successful in the contest.

“We were looking for easy offense and this game doesn’t give you that, it demands that you put the time in,” Shawhan said. “They executed a game plan much better than we (did and) turned it into a really good man-on-man 1-on-1 game and beat us at that.”

Shawhan felt that the Chargers (3-14-0 overall, 3-8-0-0 WCHA) earned the win.

“You first have to show up and compete, so they deserve it,” he said. “They built confidence as it went. I think they broke our confidence. I don’t think it’s going to be any easier tomorrow night.”

Co-captain Dylan Steman echoed his coach’s feelings that the Huskies were not ready for the opening faceoff.

“I credit them,” said Steman. “We weren’t ready at puck drop and that’s on us. I think we have to be ready at the drop tomorrow.

“They are a hard team to play against. They beat Bemidji. They beat us now. They might not have the best record, but they are still a good hockey team.”

Steman felt that things got better as the game went along. The Huskies did put up 30 of their 39 shots in the final 40 minutes.

“I thought we played better later in the game,” he said. “We came back. We did have a lot of shots and good scoring chances. We have had good offense this year and tonight we didn’t have it.”

The Huskies (9-7-1 overall, 8-2-1-1 WCHA) pressed and had good shots near the goal, but were unable to find a weak spot on Sinclair in the second and third periods, making Newton’s goal stand up.

Alabama-Huntsville coach Mike Corbett was extremely pleased to see his team get ahead early on the road and then hang on to that lead.

“It’s nice to get get the first goal,” he said. “You don’t know that was going to be the game-winner, but it’s nice to get the first goal for our team. We haven’t done that very much. We played a very good first period.

“I think the second period was pretty much even. They outshot us, but it comes down to that last period, and when you’re on the road, you have to try and get that next goal.”

Sinclair made some key saves throughout the game to shutout the Huskies. Corbett was proud of the effort his sophomore put in.

“Our goalie was fantastic,” Corbett said. “We were able to withstand their big push at the end. “(He) was square to the puck all night long. When there were rebounds, our guys were able to clear them. He’s been playing well (so) I’m not surprised.”

The teams return to action Saturday at 7:07 p.m.

Scoring

Alabama-Huntsville 1 0 0 – 1

Michigan Tech 0 0 0 – 0

First period

1, UAH, Bailey Newton (John Teets, Connor Merkley), 10:30

Saves

UAH, Sinclair 9 18 12 – 39

MTU, Beydoun 5 5 6 – 16

Power plays

UAH: 0/4; MTU: 0/4

Penalties

UAH: 4/8; MTU: 0/4