HOUGHTON, Mich. — In a battle of two of the top goalies in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association on Saturday night, Michigan Tech’s Michael-Lee Teslak got the better of University of Denver’s Peter Mannino.
Teslak made 32 saves as his team scored a 2-1 win over the Pioneers at John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
“I thought Tech played a very good game,” Denver coach George Gwozdecky said. “They were able to control play for a good part of the first two periods.”
Trailing 2-0 late in the game, Gwozdecky pulled Mannino in favor of an extra attacker with his team already on a power play.
DU had a rare 6-on-3 advantage for the final 90 seconds when Tech received a second penalty.
The Pioneers scored to cut the lead in half when Rhett Rakhshani’s quick shot beat Teslak at the 18:13 mark.
Denver buzzed the net during the remaining time, but Teslak was equal to the challenge.
The loss dropped Denver to 16-9-1 in the league and 22-11-1 overall, but Gwozdecky was satisfied that his team locked up third place in the standings with Friday night’s 1-0 victory.
“It was important to get that third-place spot,” he said. “No team has ever won the league tourney without finishing at least that high.”
The Huskies took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Alex Lord gained control of the puck in the slot and whipped a shot past Mannino.
DU lost a key attacker when Patrick Mullen received a checking-from-behind penalty and a game disqualification late in the first period.
Tech made it 2-0 with 9:08 left in the third period when Geoff Kinrade scored with MTU on a power play.
MTU coach Jamie Russell credited Teslak for the victory.
“I thought he made some terrific saves,” Russell said. “It’s a big win for us.”
Mannino, who became DU’s career shutout leader Friday night, stopped 19 shots.
Tech is 8-14-4 in league and 12-17-5 overall.
Denver 0 0 1 — 1
Michigan Tech 1 0 1 — 2
First period — 1, MT, Alex Lord 2 (Royer, Kivisto), 12:41.
Second period — No scoring.
Third period — 2, MT, Geoff Kinrade 4 (Rouleau, Gagne) 9:08. 3, DU, Rhett Rakhshani 13 (Butler, Ostrow) pp, 18:13.
Shots on goal — DU 9-13-11—33; MT 7-4-10—21. Saves — DU, Peter Mannino, 6-4-9—19, 57:18. MT, Michael-Lee Teslak, 9-13-10—32, 60:00. Penalties — DU 9-29. MT 10-23. Power plays — DU 1-5; MT 0-3.
Referee — Jon Campion. Assistants — Sean Jacques, Ed Moberg.
