William Ahlrik's stardom keeps growing. Saturday night, with the Lakers trailing much of the game, he tallied an empty-net powerplay goal to level the score as Lake Superior State earned a league point in a 3-2 overtime loss at Bemidji State in CCHA play.

Laker head coach Damon Whitten said, "I thought it was a good job by Ahlrik, and really that whole group. We pulled the goalie on the powerplay to make it 6-on-4, had long possession on it, and the guys did a great job executing. Then [Calem] Mangone makes the backdoor pass to Ahlrik who gets low on it and deposits."

Ahlrik parked himself in front of the goal in the bumper position on the powerplay while Adam Barone handled the puck by the blue line. He zipped a pass below the goal line to Mangone, who quickly tapped it net-front to Ahlrik. He banged the puck in at 17:42 of the third, leveling the game in the Lakers' second big comeback in as many weeks. But in overtime, Oliver Peer broke free and scored to claim two league points for the Beavers, with an assist from Flammang.

Still, Whitten liked how his team rebounded after a poor outing on Friday night. "I like that response by us. A lot of nights, you play like that and you're going to win. But we come up on the wrong side of it tonight."

Down 1-0 after Adam Flammang struck for Bemidji (7-4-1, 5-0-1 CCHA) midway through the first, the Lakers (3-6-1, 0-4-0 CCHA) offense grew into the game despite stout defensive work by BSU.

"I thought we got a lot better as the game went on," Whitten said. "I thought in the first period, we were a little rushed with out puck decisions and throwing some pucks away that cut down on our offensive zone possession time. I think the guys did a good job adjusting through the second and third period to play with a little more poise and to get their feet moving with the puck."

The Lakers got on the board in one of the rare moments where the game truly opened up. BSU's Reilly Funk failed to score on a breakaway chance, then LSSU's Ryan Beck came dashing toward the Beavers goal. Driving through the middle of the ice, he slid a pass to Hunter Ramos on the right wing, who quickly gathered and wired a wrister bar-down to tie the game 1-1.

The goal, Ramos' fourth of the season, showed more of his sublime offensive skill. He dashed the length of the ice to get back in the play and took very little time dusting the puck off before shooting. The work by goaltender Rorke Applebee on the back end proved critical, starting the offensive rush by making a stellar play to deny Funk.

"Great finish," said the Lakers head coach. "A big-time finish with a great handle. Ryan Beck sets it up with a nice play as well. He's played his best weekend of hockey for us, so that's good to see. Hunter's been good, skilled, creative with his finishing and his pace is outstanding. That was one of the few times where we were under some duress. For long stretches of the game, we made them defend and play in their own zone. We needed a key save and got it, then went down and got the game-tying zone."

Rorke Applebee made 21 saves for Lake Superior State, while Max Hildebrand made 22. Though neither team hit their per-game average shot totals, both goaltenders faced a ton of quality with pose and skill.

"Really good goalie battle," Whitten told 99.5 YES FM postgame. "Rorke had to make a couple of key saves, which you need. At least one big one on the penalty kill, which was impactful. Good goalie battle for sure."

LSSU is comfortable with low shot totals, putting 24 pucks on net Saturday. While the Lakers came into the game 49th in shots on goal per game, they finish at a 12.4% rate, the 10th best national mark. It's the age-old question of quantity or quality, and the Lakers have typically finished in or around the top-10 nationally in shooting percentage under Whitten's leadership.

"It's certainly a structural component of the way we play and the style we play," he said. "Some teams throw pucks on net from everywhere, and that can be effective as well. But we value puck possession. We value skill plays and creating offense through those things. We have a structure that supports that."

With quality finishers like Ramos, Ahlrik, and Carter Batchelder, who scored in Friday's game and netted twice last Saturday, the Lakers can certainly make the most of the chances they do get. In crunch time, down in the third period, they struck for two huge goals. It earned a point, and now the team's attention turns to preparation for Minnesota State next weekend at Taffy Abel Arena in Sault Ste. Marie. Buy your tickets online or at the Norris Center box office.