SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) hockey program (9-13-2, 7-8-1 CCHA) skated to a 3-3 tie against the St. Thomas Tommies (9-10-5, 6-6-4 CCHA) on Saturday as St. Thomas took the extra league point in a shootout.

The Tommies set the tone early with a goal from Cooper Gay 34 seconds into the game, and they managed to extend their advantage to 2-0 midway through the opening period. Then, at the 15:08 mark, Branden Piku (Harrison Twp., Mich.) netted his second goal of the weekend to cut the lead to one, taking a pass from Carter Batchelder (Savage, Minn.) after Everett Pietila (Howell, Mich.) disrupted the puck to force a UST turnover. 

Midway through the second period, the Tommies would find themselves with a man advantage for five minutes following a major penalty on the Lakers, and Gay was able to take advantage of the opportunity to put St. Thomas back up by two. However, Sasha Teleguine (North Attleborough, Mass.) stole the puck away and raced ahead to score his second shorthanded goal of the season while falling away to get his team back within one score.

At the 12:34 mark of the third period, Nate Schweitzer (Champlin, Minn.) tied up the game at 3-3 with a strike to the upper right corner. Both teams would battle throughout the remainder of regulation and into overtime, but both defenses were able to step up to make timely stops, including a pair of highlight worthy saves from Easton Hesse (Beaumont, Alta.), to ultimately force the game to be officially recorded as a tie.

In the shootout, Schweitzer and Timo Bakos (Augsburg, Germany) were each able to find the back of the net. However, the Tommies managed to score on all three attempts to steal the extra point in the league standings.

The Lakers return to action on Friday, Jan. 31 following a bye week when they travel to Sioux Falls, S.D. for the first time to face the Vikings of Augustana with puck drop scheduled for 8:07 p.m. Eastern Time.