SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich.- Lake Superior State skated to a 1-1 draw with Western Collegiate Hockey Association opponent Alabama-Huntsville during Friday night's series opener at Taffy Abel Arena.

In front of a crowd of 1,852, the Lakers and Chargers dueled through all but 3:43 minutes of the total 65-minute game in a deadlock.

The Lakers (7-22-2, 6-16-1 WCHA) controlled much of the offensive play early in the first period. During the first 10 minutes of play, the home team jumped out to an 8-3 lead in shots and gained the only power-play opportunity of the night when Cody Marooney got the gate for elbowing 4:32 into the first period.

The Chargers (7-18-4, 6-14-1 WCHA) fought their way back and were given a big spark by their starting netminder Carmine Guerriero. They evened up the shot totals 9-9 to close the first period.

In net for the Lakers once again, and carrying the bulk of the defensive load, was freshman Gordon Defiel. Defiel boosted his stellar numbers since the start of the Flordia College Hockey Classic on Dec. 29, only giving up the lone goal. Defiel is second in the WCHA in save percentage with a .945 mark since the draw with Cornell.

The Lakers took the first, and only lead of the evening at 4:13 of the second period when a shot by James Roll (1-10--11) was redirected by Gus Correale (2-5--7) for his second goal of his sophomore campaign and fourth goal as a Laker. Garret Clemment (3-4--7) was credited with the second assist.

The Lakers' lead vanished at 7:46 of the second period as Doug Reid notched his first goal of his junior season. Brent Fletcher picked up his fifth assist on the season and Anderson White tallied his first point on the year with the second helper.

The Lakers committed no penalties and were unsuccessful on their lone power-play attempt. Alabama-Huntsville ended the evening by out shooting the Lakers 28-26 as the teams skated through a scoreless overtime period.

The teams look to come away with valuable conference points Saturday evening when the puck drops at 7:07 pm ET.

Final LSSU 1 - UAH 1

Photos credit: Helena Wollan