Tech Faces Tough Homestand Challenges Against Williston and Montana State

Montana Tech University (Tech) Hockey is coming off a tough two-home game stretch this past week against Williston State College (Williston) and Montana State University. In the two games, Tech fell 4-1 to Williston and 13-0 to MSU. 

Williston State College at Montana Tech

On October 10, Tech hosted Williston in Butte. Tech held Williston to just one goal in the first period and another single score in the second, while Mike McKay scored Tech's only goal late in the second period off an assist from Cade Holland. Despite being held to just a goal a period to start the game, Williston would win by a score of 4-1 after scoring two of those goals on the powerplay. 

"I thought we played a hard, competitive game. We fought hard in the first two periods, getting some good scoring chances. One challenge we faced was keeping up our play in the third period. Our first two periods were really solid, but we just have to keep up that grit and competitiveness in the third period," said McKay, who had Tech's lone goal.

Tech goalie Eddie Kazmierczak would stay busy between the pipes. He faced  43 shots and made 39 saves against the Tetons, while Tech mustered 24 shots on the Williston goal. 

After the game, the Tech goalie talked about facing many shots and was optimistic about what he saw. 

“It definitely gets tiring after a while, but it was a very competitive game that we definitely had a good chance to win, I think the guys are finally starting to gain chemistry and we are just getting better and better every game,” Kazmierczak said. 

Tech’s Kazmierczak in net

Montana State University at Montana Tech

In their second game of the recent homestand, Tech hosted the perennial powerhouse, MSU Bobcats, which finished last season and ranked #1 in the ACHA's West Region and was off to another strong start this season.  

MSU started the game off hot with five unanswered goals in the first period and four more in the second, followed by five more to close the game to win 13-0. Tech's special teams would kill three of the six penalties in the game, while the 'Digs would only have two power play opportunities on a disciplined MSU squad. 

"For the MSU game, we came in there with a different mindset, and that's something we can't do. We have to play every game with the same mindset and play our game. We played strong in the first period and kept up with them. We just had to keep that going for the other two periods. That's something we have to work on, which is playing our game for the full 60 minutes," Tech's McKay said.

Kazmierczak and Kasse would platoon in goal, with Kazmierczak getting the majority of minutes and making 39 saves on 52 shots. 

Up Next

Tech will continue their homestand next week as they host Eastern Washington University on October 25 and 26. 

The game on the 25th will be Tech’s pink the rink for breast cancer. Admission to the game is free courtesy of Illumination Women’s Health and ASMT. 

The ‘Digs will wear special pink jerseys that will be available for purchase and to have autographed by the team. All proceeds from the jersey sales will benefit St James Cancer Center in Butte.