KALAMAZOO - Lake Superior State came back to tie Friday's hockey game 3-3 against Western Michigan, but fell short in the shootout at Lawson Arena.

LSSU was scoreless in the first period as Western Michigan took a 3-0 lead. WMU's Jared Katz and Max Campbell scored 44 seconds apart in the first to make it 2-0. Ian Slater scored Western's final regulation goal at 10:22 of the first.

The Lakers (4-4-1 overall, 1-3-1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association) scored at 6:10 of the second period to make it 3-1. Junior forward Chad Nehring tallied his sixth goal of the season on an assist from sophomore forward Fred Cassiani.

LSSU senior forward Zac MacVoy netted an unassisted goal at 1:54 of the third to make it 3-2 Western Michigan.

With seven seconds left in regulation and goaltender Brian Mahoney-Wilson pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Cassiani scored the game-tying goal. Nehring and junior forward Rick Schofield notched assists.

After five minutes of scoreless sudden-death overtime, LSSU and WMU (4-2-1 overall, 0-2-1 CCHA) went to the first shootout of the season for both teams. WMU's J.J. Crew scored the only shootout goal as both teams took three attempts.

Mahoney-Wilson took the loss for the Lakers. Mahoney-Wilson played 54:41 of the game and stopped 35 of 38 shots. Senior goaltender Pat Inglis played the final 9:31 of the first period and had two saves. WMU goaltender Jerry Kuhn deflected 36 shots for the win in 65:00 minutes of play.

LSSU was 0-for-3 and WMU 0-for-4 on the power play.

The Lakers and Broncos play Game 2 of the series at 7:35 p.m. Saturday at Lawson Arena.

Note: Senior Zac MacVoy received special mention for RBC Financial Group Player of the Month. MacVoy totaled one goal and seven assists for eight points in October. Rookie of the Month special mention went to LSSU freshman forward Domenic Monardo, who tallied one goal and four assists for five points in October. 

Lake Superior State vs. Western Michigan