“I’m really happy for the players,” said Shawhan. “Winning things like this they remember for the rest of their lives. This is the biggest tournament outside of a national championship for Michigan Tech. To have accomplished that during your time at Michigan Tech is a memory they’ll never forget.”

It was, by no means, easy.

Still, Shawhan was proud of the effort he received from several players, including junior winger Alex Nordstrom, who did not end up on the scoresheet, but made crucial plays along the boards to keep pucks deep in the offensive zone, especially in the third period. Shawhan also liked the line of Kukkonen, Logan Pietila, and Works.

“I thought Kyle got his legs moving with that line,” he said. “Obviously, Logan Pietila was tremendous, and I thought we found some combinations that were pretty good, so we’ll see what we stick with going forward. I thought we found a little bit of chemistry with some guys.

Michigan Tech forward Jack Works searches for a way past a Michigan State defenseman during the championship game of the 57th Annual Great Lakes Invitational tournamet in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Friday. (Photos courtesy of Michigan Tech University)

“I thought Nordstrom was absolutely tremendous the entire weekend. He made so many intelligent plays with the puck, and competed so hard on the puck. I thought he stood out as well.”

The No. 7 Michigan State Spartans came into Friday’s championship game the favorites, and with a second period that saw them outshoot the Huskies 15-1 and get two goals from Joey Larson, they looked like they were well on their way to their 13th title.

Despite the fact that the statistics after two periods were not on their side, Shawhan felt that the right message needed to be sent in the locker room. They were still in it if they could get things started quickly in the third.

Kukkonen tried to get the Huskies (9-8-4 overall) kickstarted just 14 seconds into the period, evening the Huskies’ shot total from the previous period. While the puck did not find the net that quickly, that play foreshadowed what came a little over two minutes later.

Kukkonen again had the puck on his stick as he entered the offensive zone down the left boards. He put on the breaks and found Works in the slot. Almost as soon as the puck was on his stick, Works fired off a wrist shot that found a hole in Luca DePasquo and evened the game at 2:23.

“It was disappointing to give up that goal (at the end of the second), but we came back the night before, and all we had to do is just try to find our structure again and generate some offense,” said Shawhan. “We were able to do that.”

Just 7:06 later, Works was at it again. As Kukkonen moved the puck out to freshman defenseman Chase Pietila at the right point, Works found a soft spot behind the Spartans’ defenders. Pietila carried the puck down to near the right faceoff dot and then fed the puck over Works, who fired a quick shot that DePasquo stopped. The rebound bounced right back to Works, and this time he buried it, earning a hat trick in the process.

Red Savage evened the game at three for the Spartans at 12:03, setting up a race to the finish line that neither team could find enough separation to win. The best Huskies’ scoring chance came off the stick of freshman winger Isaac Gordon, who had a look from the left circle with 4:26 left, but DePasquo gloved it down.

Michigan State had two shots from the right circle in the final 2:48, but both times, Blake Pietila was there to make the stop, forcing overtime.

In the ensuing 3-on-3 overtime session, both teams had looks that easily could have ended the contest, if not for the efforts of Blake Pietila and DePasquo, including one with 41 seconds left where Kukkonen stole a puck, found Logan Pietila to DePasquo’s right, but his one-timer was stopped.

Larson had two different looks for the Spartans, but could not find a hat trick goal of his own either time.

After the overtime ended, the two teams lined up for a shootout. After junior center Austen Swankler had the puck poked off his stick, the Spartans had a chance. Karsen Dorwart made a deke to his forehand, but Blake Pietila was not fooled.

In the second round, alternate captain Ryland Mosley carried the puck into the slot and beat DePasquo with a wrist shot. Daniel Russell tried to even things for Michigan State, but his wrist shot was stopped.

Logan Pietila attempted a wrist shot of his own, with a chance to end things, but it was stopped by DePasquo, setting up a cousin battle between Blake Pietiila and Larson. Larson skated in, but his attempt was stopped, sealing the GLI victory for the Huskies.

Works gave the Huskies the lead in the first period at 8:55 when he found space behind the Spartans’ defense on the power play. Logan Pietila found him with a pass and he buried it.

Larson’s first goal came 5:54 into the second period with Chase Pietila off the ice for hooking. His second came at 19:19, when the Huskies misplayed a puck behind their own net, and Nicolas Muller was able to escape with the puck and feed Larson in the slot for a quick shot.

Blake Pietila made 54 saves on 57 Spartans’ shots to earn the tie. He is now 8-6-4 on the season. DePasquo made 22 saves for Michigan State.

MOST VALUABLE WORKS

Works, who scored the hat trick, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“It’s pretty cool, obviously,” he said. “It’s pretty clear to me, just playing here last year and again this year, how big of a deal it is. I am honored to kind of be a part of that, and I am so happy we won.”

ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS

Blake Pietila, Chase Pietila and Mosley all earned GLI All-Tournament Team honors. Larson and David Gucciardi were named from the Spartans, and Chase Dubois from Alaska was the third forward.

UP NEXT

The Huskies are officially off until Thursday, Jan. 11, when they face St. Thomas on the road. In the meantime, they will play an exhibition game against Northern Michigan on Saturday at 6:07 p.m. at the Berry Events Center in order to keep their game focused before starting the second half of the season.