SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) hockey team (9-13-1, 7-8-0 CCHA) narrowly fell to the Tommies of St. Thomas (9-10-4, 6-6-3 CCHA) in overtime by a final score of 4-3 on Friday.

The Tommies struck first in the opening period with a power play goal by Caige Sterzer fractions of a second prior to the penalty time expiring midway through the opening period, and Liam Malmquist doubled up the score at the 16:55 mark to put St. Thomas ahead 2-0 at the first intermission.

The Lakers were able to battle back in the second period. Jacob Conrad (Green Bay, Wisconsin.) found the back of the net with a strike from the right side after being set up by William Ahlrik (Tidaholm, Sweden) and Jordan Venegoni (Livonia, Mich.). Then, with just over a minute remaining in the period, Sasha Teleguine (North Attleborough, Mass.) scored his league-leading 12th goal of the season right off of a face off win by John Herrington (Hudson's Hope, B.C.) to tie up the game. 

The Lakers carried their momentum into the final frame, and 1:39 into the third period, Branden Piku (Harrison Twp., Mich.) was able to take advantage of the puck being mishandled by St. Thomas goaltender Jake Sibell, pushing it through to give his team their first lead of the night. However, Jake Braccini managed to tie up the score with less than two minutes to play in regulation, and Luc Laylin broke the Lakers' hearts in overtime to steal away a pair of league points. 

The Lakers will look to bounce back for the series split in game two on Saturday, Jan. 18 with puck drop scheduled for 6:07 p.m.