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Sports · Upper Peninsula

Michigan Tech hockey sweeps Alaska as Luke Shipley scores twice in the third, and the No. 11 Huskies open CCHA play at Ferris State

The Mitten Daily · October 19, 2026 · Upper Peninsula

A wide view from the upper seats of a packed hockey arena, with fans in black and gold in the foreground and players in dark and blue jerseys on the white ice below.
Michigan Tech plays a home game at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena in Houghton in January 2018, in a file photo. It does not show this weekend’s games. Photo: Jcvertin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-adjusted; derivative under the same ShareAlike license.

HOUGHTON, Mich. — Michigan Tech finished its nonconference schedule with a home sweep of Alaska on Hall of Fame weekend, winning 3-0 on Friday and 4-2 on Saturday, and enters CCHA play at 5-1 and ranked No. 11 in the USCHO poll.

On Saturday, the Huskies trailed 2-1 early in the third period before defenseman Luke Shipley took over. He tied the game on a power play at 7:05 with a wrist shot through traffic, his first goal for Tech, then put the Huskies ahead for good at 14:11 with another shot from the slot. Freshman Carson Birnie added an empty-net goal after Alaska pulled its goaltender with 3:32 left.

“I’m proud of the resolve today,” Tech coach Bill Muckalt said in the team’s recap. “We stayed focused and didn’t quit when we were down 2-1.” He added that sweeps “will be important late in the season for NPI rankings,” the formula that helps decide NCAA tournament bids.

Noah Reinhart opened the scoring in the first period by knocking in a rebound. Alaska tied it in the second on a goal by Jack Rogers and went ahead on Rylen Roersma’s breakaway 4:37 into the third.

Friday belonged to goaltender Owen Bartoszkiewicz, who stopped all 30 shots for his first shutout of the season and the fifth of his career before a crowd of 3,358. Matthew Van Blaricom, Conner Roulette and Tyler Miller scored, and the Huskies also killed off a five-minute major in the second period.

On Monday, the CCHA named Bartoszkiewicz its goaltender of the week after he stopped 60 of 62 shots, and Shipley its defenseman of the week. Bartoszkiewicz leads the league with five wins and ranks second with a .942 save percentage and a 1.83 goals-against average, according to Tech.

Between periods Saturday, the school introduced its 2026 Sports Hall of Fame class, which includes former hockey players Colin Murphy, Darcy Way and Wayne Weller.

Up next. Tech opens its CCHA schedule at Ferris State with games at 7:07 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Ewigleben Ice Arena in Big Rapids.

Sources:
Michigan Tech Athletics, “#14 Huskies sweep Alaska on Hall of Fame Weekend,” Oct. 17, 2026, https://michigantechhuskies.com/news/2026/10/17/mens-ice-hockey-14-huskies-sweep-alaska-on-hall-of-fame-weekend.aspx
Michigan Tech Athletics, “#14 Huskies shut out Nanooks Friday at the Mac,” Oct. 16, 2026, https://michigantechhuskies.com/news/2026/10/16/mens-ice-hockey-14-huskies-shut-out-nanooks-friday-at-the-mac.aspx
Michigan Tech Athletics, “Bartoszkiewicz and Shipley named CCHA Players of the Week,” Oct. 19, 2026, https://michigantechhuskies.com/news/2026/10/19/mens-ice-hockey-bartoszkiewicz-and-shipley-named-ccha-players-of-the-week.aspx
Photo: Jcvertin, “Hockey at Michigan Tech.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hockey_at_Michigan_Tech.jpg

Upper Peninsula

Tags: Michigan Tech · College Hockey · Houghton · CCHA · Ferris State

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