Laker Comeback Falls Short

The 19th-ranked Lake Superior State hockey team battled back from a 3-1 deficit only to lose 4-3 with 55 seconds remaining in overtime to Upper Peninsula nemesis Northern Michigan on Friday at Taffy Abel Arena. NMU (17-14-2 overall, 11-12-2 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) extended its win streak against LSSU to six games when Darin Olver forced a turnover right in front of Laker goaltender Jeff Jakaitis and chipped in the game-winner. Earlier in the overtime period, Wildcat goalie Bill Zaniboni stopped two point-blank shots by Laker defenseman Kory Scoran. LSSU took a 1-0 lead at 1:00 of the first period on a goal by Matt Restoule, but NMU came back with three straight goals. The Wildcats' 3-1 lead stood until Laker Dominic Osman scored a power-play goal at 12:01 of the second period. Colin Nicholson tied it 3-3 with a short-handed goal at 11:41 of the third period. Alex Dunn, in the lineup for the first time second suffering a shoulder injury in December, drew an assist on Restoule's goal along with Troy Schwab. Dan Eves and Jason Miller assisted on Osman's goal, while Nicholson's goal was unassisted. LSSU (15-10-6 overall, 11-10-4 CCHA) finished 1-for-7 on the power play, while NMU was 0-for-3. Jakaitis totaled 30 saves, and Zaniboni finished with 32. Dirk Southern, Nick Sirota and Nathan Sigmund scored NMU's goals. Sigmund also had an assist for the night. The Lakers and Wildcats play Game 2 of this weekend's series at 7:35 p.m. Saturday at the Berry Events Center in Marquette.