Michigan Tech junior forward Logan Ganie (14) controls the puck against Minnesota State on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, in Houghton, Mich. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — No. 14 Michigan Tech scored first, but No. 1 Minnesota State rallied for a 2-1 win Saturday and a weekend sweep.

It was the first time the Huskies were swept since Dec. 3-4, also against Minnesota State.

Just like that December series, the two losses the Huskies suffered this weekend were at the hands of the No. 1 Minnesota State Mavericks.

The Mavericks earned five of six points in the final weekend of the CCHA regular season after pulling off a 2-1 overtime win on Friday.

The Huskies (19-11-3, 16-8-2) held 1-0 leads both nights, but struggled to maintain those leads through the second period both nights.

Head coach Joe Shawhan said he was encouraged by Tech’s effort in the third period Saturday night, as they outshot the Mavericks 12-4.

“I thought we played a really good third period,” he said. “We didn’t take a backseat and get pushed, and played to win the hockey game.”

Despite the losses, the Huskies remained No. 12 in the USCHO pairwise rankings, a critical measure of receiving a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

After taking a narrow overtime loss Friday, the Huskies got off to a strong start Saturday.

Senior forward Tommy Parrottino jumped all over a Mavericks defenseman on his second shift of the game and caused the puck to turnover right to Halonen in the right circle. Brian Halonen cut to the slot, made a move to his backhand and beat Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay at 2:47 for the lead.

The Huskies put all kinds of pressure on the Mavericks defense, but didn’t beat McKay a second time.

“I thought that we played a solid hockey game, (against) the No. 1 team in the country,” said Shawhan. “They scored a couple. We had our chances. I thought the goaltending was outstanding.”

In the second period, the Mavericks found a way to get back into the game early. Napravnik led an odd-man rush into the offensive zone before feeding a pass, just inside the blue line, to Smith coming down the right boards. Smith collected the pass and quickly released a shot that found a way past Pietila at 3:35.

The game remained 1-1 until the latter stages of the period. The Mavericks drew a power play and had hopes of becoming the first team to get a goal on the man advantage on the weekend.

Huskies sophomore winger Ryland Mosley had a chance to clear the puck near the blue line, but lost control of it before he could turn and move it up the ice. Reggie Lutz got the puck down low to Lucas Sowder who beat Pietila over his left shoulder with a backhand shot at 15:21.

Blake Pietila made 19 saves in the loss for the Huskies.

Huskies fall in OT

Friday night, the Huskies were looking to maintain the momentum they built up during the third period the previous Saturday against Ferris State.

The Huskies bounced back from a 4-2 deficit to force a shootout in that contest, and all week stressed keeping that effort level up against the Mavericks (31-5, 23-3 CCHA).

In the first period, the line of co-captain Trenton Bliss and senior wingers Parrottino and Halonen tested the Mavericks’ defense, searching for a sign of weakness. It took 8:27 to find one. After two zone entries where either Bliss or Halonen found Parrottino storming down the right side of the slot, the third time worked out. 

Taking advantage of a neutral zone turnover, Bliss carried the puck into the offensive zone before feeding it across to Parrottino, who was driving the net. Parrottino made a move to his forehand, deking his way past Mavericks goaltender McKay for the goal.

“Brian and Bliss made some pretty good passes in a row there,” Parrottino said. “So that opened up. I think we had like three of the same plays in a row there. I think we should go after their (defense) and it shows that we can get some chances that way.”

The Huskies outshot the Mavericks in the first period 10-6, and looked poised to keep Minnesota State on their heels.

The script seemed to flip in the middle frame as the Mavericks put 11 shots on Huskies netminder Blake Pietila, and one of those found its way through at 16:21 when Nathan Smith, who returned to the Minnesota State lineup after playing for Team USA in the Winter Olympics in Beijing, redirected a pass from Julian Napravnik past Pietila.

“I think everybody saw that it was that the best team won,” Shawhan said. “They’re a better hockey team than we are.”

The Mavericks continued to pepper Pietila in the third period, outshooting the Huskies 12-4, but time and time again, Pietila proved to be McKay’s equal, making stop after stop, forcing the game to overtime.

In the extra session, the Mavericks found a way to get to Pietila for a second time. Smith chased down Huskies defender Michael Karow behind the net and knocked him down to get the puck. Once he circled out in the slot with it, Smith fed the puck across to Napravnik, who one-timed a shot in at 1:18 to earn the win.

Pietila made 29 saves in the loss for the Huskies.