Michigan Tech Blanks Colorado College to Clinch Series

Huskies advance to WCHA Final Five

March 12, 2007

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (mtu.edu/athletics) -- Michael-Lee Teslak (Fernie, B.C.) compiled his fourth shutout of the season with 18 saves to help the 18th-ranked Michigan Tech hockey team capture its Western Collegiate Hockey Association Playoff series two-games-to-one over 16th-ranked Colorado College Sunday night in front of 5,513 at World Arena. Ryan Bunger (Sammamish, Wash.) scored the game-winning goal at the 12:59 mark of the first period to launch the Huskies to their first berth in the WCHA Final Five since 1996.

Tech had numerous chances right out of the gates, as Jimmy Kerr (Leduc, Alta.) and Tyler Skworchinski (Marathon, Ont.) teamed up on the penalty kill to spring a 2-on-1 opportunity that was later stymied by CC goalie Matt Zaba in the first two minutes of the contest.

Near the midway point of the period with Tech shorthanded again, Skworchinski used an individual effort to open up a partial breakaway that allowed him to unleash a point blank shot right in front of the net, that Zaba turned away.

Michigan Tech finally was rewarded for its aggressive play at the 12:59 mark of the opening frame when Ryan Bunger (Sammamish, Wash.) lit the lamp for the fifth time in his freshman campaign. The play began at the high slot, where John Kivisto (Milford, Mich.) released a wrist shot that was knocked down through a host of players. Bunger eventually put the puck past Zaba after it glanced off his face mask. Alex Lord (Magog, Que.) added the second assist on the goal.

Neither team scored in the second stanza, but it wasn't for a lack of chances on both sides.

Tiger forward Chad Rau had two prime opportunities, one on the power play early in the period, and again with about five minutes left in the period. Rau had a partial breakaway that Teslak stopped with a quick move of the stick. The center then rang a shot from the right point off the post.

The Huskies had their own share of attempts disrupted by Zaba, including one post-ringer on a power play with under four minutes remaining in the stanza. Eli Vlaisavljevich (Shoreview, Minn.) hit iron with a shot from the low slot that caromed off the right post.

Tech held a 21-13 shot advantage heading into the third period.

The final frame was a defensive slugfest with the Tigers mounting a final comeback late in regulation.

Zaba left the CC net with 1:18 left, giving the home team an array of chance inside the Huskies' offensive zone. Head coach Scott Owens called a timeout with 22 ticks left, but Tech stood tall and sent away all of the Tigers final offensive attempts.

Teslak improved to 11-7-3 on the season, and is now 8-2-2 in his last 12 appearances. Zaba finished with 24 saves and saw his record fall to 15-13-4.

Michigan Tech (18-16-15, 11-12-5 WCHA) is scheduled to play either Wisconsin at the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn., next Thursday (Mar. 15). The Xcel Energy Center will serve as the site for all of the tournament's games.

Notes: Tech has now won a WCHA Playoff series for the first time since 1995-96, when it bested Minnesota Duluth in two games ... The victory was the Huskies' first in a Game 3 of a WCHA Playoff series since it topped Colorado College on Mar. 13, 1994, in Colorado Springs ... Teslak's shutout tied Jim Warden (1974-75) for a single-season high of four blankings on Tech's all-time list ... The shutout tonight was the fifth of the year for Michigan Tech, marking a new program record that was previously set in 1974-75.