Michigan Tech Crowned Champion Of 57th Great Lakes Invitational

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WLUC) - The Michigan Tech hockey team is the 2023 GLI champion with a 4-3 overtime victory over Michigan State on Friday.

"I'm really proud of our guys because they found a way to win as a team," Michigan Tech head coach Joe Chauvin said. “We came out in the third, scored two goals, tied the game, and Blake, who blocked three shots, stood out.

The Huskies punched their ticket to the championship game against Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday. The Spartans did the same with a win over Ferris State.

It was the Huskies who struck first on the power play when Kyle Kakkonen found Logan Bithell, who passed the ball to Jack Works in the backfield to give Michigan Tech the lead.

The Spartans responded in the second half with a goal by Joey Larson. He blocked the shot, but the ball deflected off Larsson and he scored to tie the score at 1-1.

With seconds left in the second period, the Spartans tied the game again when Nikolas Mueller found Larsson in front of the net for his second goal of the night to put Michigan State up 2-1.

The Huskies came up short as Works ignited the Spartans' offense, which led to another goal when Kaukonen found himself on the ice to tie the score again at 2-2.

Michigan Tech scored again in the third period when Chase Pietillo fumbled and Workes put the ball away. He scored his third goal of the night to complete his hat trick and put Michigan Tech up 3-2.

The Spartans answered again when David Gouchardi threw a long pass to Red Savage. His top score of 90 lit the lamp and he leveled the score with three balls apiece.

The game went into overtime and both teams had several chances to tie the game, but neither the Huskies nor the Spartans could find the winner.

After overtime, in the second round of the shootout, Huskies kicker Ryland Mosley finished the job to give MTU a 1-0 shot lead.

Michigan State's last chance came in the form of former NMU Wildcat Joey Larson. However, Larson's shot was blocked by goaltender Blake Pietillo, sealing the Huskies as 2023 GLI tournament champions.

"Two wins in the third period shows our character," Huskies forward Jack Works said. "I think we're going to have a great second half and we're really excited."

The Michigan Tech Huskies are now 9-8-4 on the season.

The Huskies will play a friendly against Northern Michigan on Jan. 6 before taking on St. Louis. Thomas on January 11th and 13th.

Copyright WLUC 2023. All rights reserved.

Watch today, November 17.