DETROIT - A little rust was to be expected.

Seventeen days after the Michigan hockey team played its last game, the Wolverines didn't expect everything to easily come together in the semifinals of the 46th Great Lakes Invitational at Joe Louis Arena.

Thanks to a trio of unlikely offensive suspects, just enough did.

Lindsay Sparks and Jeff Rohrkemper scored their first goals of the season and sophomore A.J. Treais delivered the game-winner in a 4-2 win over Michigan Tech on Wednesday night.

The No. 10-ranked Wolverines (11-5-4) will face Colorado College on Thursday night in the championship game (7:30, Fox Sports Detroit).

The Tigers, ranked 20th in the nation, held off Michigan State, 5-4, in Wednesday's other semifinal. Michigan will be playing for its third MacInness Trophy in four years.

Michigan had to survive a fast and furious four minutes to advance to the title game.

"It got crazy there for a little bit," said senior goalie Shawn Hunwick, who finished with 28 saves, 15 which came in the action-packed third period.

Michigan clung to the one-goal lead until the 12:23 mark of the third period when Milos Gordic capped a relentless Michigan Tech flurry from point-blank range. The goal started a string of four goals over the next four minutes during which the Wolverines twice regained the lead.

After Rohrkemper gave Michigan a 2-1 lead off a perfect pass from Brandon Burlon, the Huskies again responded. Michigan Tech (3-12-2) took advantage of its fourth penalty play chance, again tying the game with a goal at the 9:33 mark.

But the Wolverines, who hadn't played since its 5-0 outdoor victory over Michigan State on Dec. 11, again responded, regaining the lead again for good.

Greg Pateryn dumped a shot in that deflected off a Huskies' defender and found its way onto Treais' stick. The sophomore flipped a shot past Michigan Tech goalie Josh Robinson with just under 9 minutes left, capping the crazy four-minute stretch.

"I think that says a lot about our team and why you play 60 minutes," Treais said. "It could be 1-0 one minute and (3-2) the next minute. I think we did a good job battling back."

Michigan's scoring came from unlikely sources almost by necessity. The Wolverines are playing this week without sophomore forward Chris Brown and defenseman Jon Merrill, who are playing with the United States U-20 world junior team at the IIHF championships in Buffalo, N.Y.

While Brown has struggled offensively, Merrill has been the Wolverines' top-producing defenseman. The void opened the door for Rohrkemper and Sparks, who had played sparingly in Michigan's first 19 games.

"Obviously, these guys want to play and when they get the opportunity, it's nice for them to step up and score," Michigan associate head coach Mel Pearson said afterwards, speaking to reporters for coach Red Berenson who was on the Michigan bench, but who is fighting a bad cold. "So it was good to see them step up and score some important goals."

Michigan, which outshot the Huskies 49-29, capped the win with an empty-net goal from captain Luke Glendening with 47 seconds remaining.

The win again places the Wolverines in the GLI title game for the 27th time in tournament history. Michigan had to settle for a third-place finish last year after being upset in the semifinals by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before bouncing back against Michigan Tech.

The Wolverines will get a stiffer test from Colorado College (12-8-1) which competes in the Western College Hockey Association. But after shedding a little rust against the Huskies, Michigan knows it will have to come through with another solid effort if it hopes to capture its 14th GLI championship.

"(The championship) is obviously the game you want to get into," Hunwick said. "The GLI is something we strive for all season long and you want to get into that championship game so down the road in March, you have that experience of playing in a tight hockey game."

Jeff Arnold covers Michigan hockey for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at (734) 623-2554 or by e-mail at jeffarnold@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.