Alternate captain Blake Pietila was the other star of the game for the Huskies, making 34 saves on 35 shots from the Beavers, who came into the night on an 11-game winning streak, en route to winning the CCHA Tournament title. The win was the Huskies’ fifth in a row.

“I just have a lot of love for our team,” said Huskies coach Joe Shawhan. “A great group of guys, win or lose, the leadership of this group, the desire to keep playing and to share some more experiences, is just felt every time I go in the rink. So, (I have a) tremendous amount of respect and love for them. Couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to be around.”

Shawhan felt that the way the Huskies defended made a huge difference in the contest.

“Our guys blocked shots,” he said. “It starts with forwards giving our (defense) some time. Our (defense) had to grind some out.”

Michigan Tech center Logan Pietila (13), forward Ryland Mosley (11), forward Isaac Gordon (16), defenseman Trevor Russell (8) and defenseman Matthew Campbell (15) celebrate Mosley’s game-winning goal in the second period of the Mason Cup final against Bemidji State at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota.(Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech University)

Bemidji coach Tom Serratore felt that the way the Huskies handled the Beavers’ forecheck made a significant difference, as well.

“They break the puck out so well, and they support the puck extremely well, and their forwards are good on the wall,” he said. “So, it’s a combination of, again, their short little passes. We call them little bump plays or little dink plays, and they do a good job of supporting the puck and keeping the puck going north. (We) were one step behind.”

Despite the way the Huskies defended, and moved the puck out of their own end quickly, it was the Beavers who struck first at 14:07 when Kasper Magnusson found space in the slot while Austin Jouppi battled behind the Huskies’ net. Jouppi moved along the left boards and backhanded a pass into the slot, where Magnusson buried a one-timer.

All season long, the Huskies have been working on their response after giving up a goal, and Friday night, that hard work paid off in a big way as freshman winger Henry Bartle and junior winger Alex Nordstrom stepped on the ice. Bartle bumped a turned over puck into the neutral zone to Nordstrom, who entered the offensive zone with speed. Nordstrom fired a wrist shot on Beavers goaltender Mattias Sholl that bounced off of him and back to Nordstrom. Nordstrom quickly pushed the puck to freshman defenseman Chase Pietila, who backhanded it past Sholl at 14:59.

It was Chase Pietila’s third goal of the season, and also his third in his last seven games.

Michigan Tech forward Alex Nordstrom (18), center Logan Pietila (13), goaltender Blake Pietila (31), defenseman Chase Pietila (17), and defenseman Jed Pietila (25) pose with the Mason Cup trophy after defeating Bemidji State in the Mason Cup final Friday at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech University)

“It was a great play,” said Shawhan. “I think Nordy was out there with Blais Richartz, who I’m so proud of. and Barts (Bartle). I think Chase got the goal. He stayed up with the play and ended up picking up some slop around the net.”

The Huskies nearly took a 2-1 lead with just seconds remaining in the period when alternate captain Kyle Kukkonen, playing his first game since Jan. 20, dropped a pass to co-captain Arvid Caderoth, who beat Sholl with a wrist shot, but the puck hit the corner where the crossbar meets the right post, so it never crossed the goal line.

The game remained 1-1 into the second period before a dump-in by the Beavers was sent the other way with speed.

As soon as he got control of the puck, sophomore defenseman Matthew Campbell turned and looked up ice. He found Mosley at the Beavers’ blue line. Mosley skated into the slot on a 2-on-1 with freshman winger Isaac Gordon. He looked to pass, but then cut to the middle and fired off a backhand shot that hit the post to Sholl’s left and bounced in at 9:20.

“I was pretty tired, so I didn’t get my usual celebration in there,” Mosley said. “I was a little bit surprised, but Scholl’s a good goalie. He comes out and plays the angles well, and (I) kind of just threw the puck in on my backhand and, luckily, it went in.”

Michigan Tech defenseman Trevor Russell (8), defenseman Chase Pietila (17), forward Alex Nordstrom (18) and forward Henry Bartle (4) celebrate Pietila’s goal in the first period of the Mason Cup final against Bemidji State at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech University)

Kukkonen had a quality scoring chance about two minutes after Mosley’s tally, but his shot from the slot was knocked away with the blocker by Sholl.

From there, the Beavers put pressure on of their own, but time and time again, Blake Pietila was there to make the save. His best save of the stretch was a stop on Beavers captain Kyle Looft’s wrist shot just as time expired on the middle frame.

The Beavers continued to pressure the Huskies’ defense throughout the third period, and eventually they were awarded a power play with 4:58 remaining when freshman defenseman Nick Williams put a Beavers’ forward into the boards from behind.

On the ensuing penalty kill, the Beavers got a shot immediately off the faceoff from defenseman Eric Pohlkamp, and one more later from Looft.

“We have to kill it,” said Blake Pietila. “I was expecting to have to make one or two big saves to do that. That’s what you have to do, but I don’t remember making really any. We got the puck out. We did a great job kind of making it hard for them to get in the zone, and when they did, we got it back down the ice.

“So, credit to my teammates, they did a great job.”

Shawhan praised the efforts of Caderoth and Mosley on that crucial penalty kill.

“Arvid, Moser (Mosley) and the job they did on the penalty kill with what, four and a half minutes left, was phenomenal,” he said. “So, it was just a commitment. You win from the goal on out. You win from your defensive game on out.”

Serratore pulled Sholl with 1:50 remaining, but again, the Beavers could not get pucks through the Huskies’ defense. With 13.5 seconds left, co-captain Logan Pietila won a critical faceoff to his twin brother Blake’s right, which ended any chance the Beavers had of evening the game before the final buzzer rang.

UP NEXT

The Huskies, who improved to 19-14-6 overall with the win, await the announcement Sunday evening of which region they will be in and who they will face in the NCAA Tournament.

It will be the third straight appearance for the Huskies in the NCAA Tournament and fourth time the Huskies have qualified under Shawhan.