DULUTH, Minn. – For the second consecutive night, the University of Alabama in Huntsville hockey team gave the nation's top-ranked team all it could handle as the Chargers fell 4-3 to No. 1 Minnesota Duluth. UAH slips to 2-24-1 with the narrow setback, and the Bulldogs improve to 16-4-3.
 
Both contests in the series were one-goal games as the Chargers fought hard against a team that entered the weekend with the second-best scoring margin in the country.
 
After the hosts grabbed a quick lead when the nation's leading scorer Jack Connolly tallied just 1:07 into the contest, the Blue and White used a power-play opportunity to quickly erase the deficit as Kyle Lysaght picked up his team-leading sixth goal of the season at 1:55. Graeme Strukoff and Sebastian Geoffrion earned assists on the strike.
 
Just under a minute later, the Chargers capitalized on the momentum generated by the quick answer and took the lead at 2:54 on a goal by Andrew Creppin – the first collegiate goal for the freshman. Picking up the assists on the play were Jeff Vanderlugt and Doug Reid.
 
Continuing the flurry of goals to start the contest, UMD tied the contest at 2-2 just under three minutes later at 5:44 when Joe Basaraba was setup by Connolly.
 
The game settled down at that point and remained knotted at 2-2 at the first intermission.
 
The Bulldogs picked up another early goal in the middle frame, taking a 3-2 lead at 2:12 after Connolly's second goal of the night, but Clarke Saunders stopped each of the other 16 attempts by the home team in the period allowing his team a chance to pull even.
 
Doing just that, UAH saw senior defenseman Tom Durnie pick up his second goal in as many nights as he put one past Aaron Crandall at 7:49 of the second to make it 3-3. Alex Allan registered the primary assist on the score, and Creppin recorded a multi-point night as he picked up the other helper.
 
Unfortunately, UMD would record another early score in the third as Caleb Herbert scored at 2:52 to put the Bulldogs up 4-3 – a score that would end up being the final.
 
The Chargers played disciplined hockey on the night, committing just two penalties while killing off both of the subsequent power plays as UAH made the Bulldogs go 0-for-6 on the weekend with the man-advantage. The Blue and White were 1-for-2 on the evening on the power play.
 
Saunders was again terrific as he stopped 43 shots for the contest.
 
UAH will be off until Feb. 3 when it travels to Maine for a two-game series.