GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Michigan Tech men's hockey coach Jamie Russell filled a hole in his coaching resume tonight at the expense of the University of North Dakota.

Michigan Tech's 3-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association victory over the Sioux was the first time in Russell's four years as head coach of the Huskies that they have beaten UND. Russell had beaten every other team in the WCHA, but was 0-12 against UND until tonight.

The Huskies nearly pitched a shutout at the struggling Sioux (5-7-1 WCHA, 7-9-1 overall). UND didn't score until sophomore Brad Miller (Alpharetta, Ga.) blasted home his sixth goal of the year at 18:33 of the third period. It came with Sioux goalie Philippe Lamoureux (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.) pulled 21 seconds earlier for an extra attacker.

Miller's goal allowed the Sioux to escape being shut out by Michigan Tech for the first time since Nov. 25, 1977.

The loss was the sixth in the last seven WCHA games for UND while Michigan Tech (4-7-2 WCHA, 7-8-2 overall) snapped a four-game losing streak in front of 10,321 fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Michigan Tech broke a scoreless tie with two goals in a span of 113 seconds late in the second period.

Tech sophomore left wing Alex Lord scored his first goal in 39 career games at 15:38, beating Lamoureux to the short side with his one-timer from the slot.

Just under two minutes later, Tech picked up a rare power play goal when Lars Helminen's shot from the right point made like a pinball. His shot first went off the leg of Sioux captain Chris Porter (Sr., Thunder Bay, Ont.), then off Tech junior left wing Peter Rouleau before sailing past Lamoureux at 19:31.

It was just the sixth power play the Huskies have converted in 94 chances this year, the worst percentage among the 59 NCAA Division I teams.

Ryan Bunger's rebound goal at 13:08 of the third period came after the Sioux lost a defensive faceoff, allowing Bunger to pound in the rebound off the initial shot by Ryan Angelow.

The Sioux outshot the Huskies 30-27, but were 0-for-6 on the power play and generated 13 of their shots on goal in the closing period. Tech goalie Rob Nolan was solid with 29 saves in lowering his season goals-against average of 2.28, sixth best in the WCHA.

The Sioux couldn't convert any of numerous scoring chances until Miller cashed in late. Sophomore defenseman Brian Lee (Moorhead, Minn.) and sophomore forward T.J. Oshie (Warroad, Minn.) drew assists on Miller's goal.

"Sometimes it's a game of bounces,'' UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "That (Rouleau's goal) was a good bounce for Michigan Tech.''

Hakstol said not much is clicking for the Sioux during this rough stretch.

"We've got a job to do, and we've got to do that job,'' Hakstol said. "Things don't always go right, things don't always come easy. Certainly for us right now, they're not coming easy. We have to stay mentally tough, come back and battle hard tomorrow.''

Hakstol didn't fault UND's effort. "Our effort tonight was very good,'' he said. "Offensively, we're struggling right now. That's not putting pressure on us, that's not saying anything but how it is. We're struggling to finish on plays. We have to get through that. Michigan Tech did a good job defensively. Their goalie did a good job. But we had some plays that were there to be finished, and we just didn't finish on.''

Lamoureux stopped 24 Tech shots, including breakaways in the first period by Alex Gagne and Angelow. He also saw Tech's Phil Axtell hit the pipes early in the second period.

The Huskies had won just once in the last 10 games. "We were desperate for points,'' Russell said. "I thought we had to come into this game and play with a real sense of urgency, and I think did that. We got the lead, and I thought we did well playing with the lead. And our penalty kill was huge.''

So was finally beating the Sioux. "Nobody in that (dressing) room had beaten North Dakota prior to tonight,'' Russell said. "To come into this building and beat a team we hadn't had success against, that's big.''

"We had a lot of turnovers, and gave up a lot of scoring opportunities,'' Porter said. "When we have our backs against the wall, we always play good. We've got to come out and get a lead early. It's a credit to them; they played well tonight and made things difficult for us.''

The teams conclude the series with faceoff set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Engelstad Arena. This weekend's series is the only time these teams meet during the regular season.

Virg Foss, who spent 35 years covering college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald before retiring in October 2005, can be reached at virgfoss@yahoo.com