ANCHORAGE ? A Chad Anderson wrister at 16:14 of the third period capped a two-goal third period for Alaska Anchorage as it rallied for a 2-1 win over Minnesota Duluth tonight at Sullivan Arena.
Freshman Kevin Clark provided the Seawolves other goal, while goalie Nathan Lawson turned back 24 Bulldog shots to help clinch UAA's first three-game WCHA winning streak in two years.
UAA improved to 7-4-2 overall and 5-4-0 in conference play with the win, its fifth in the last seven meetings against the Bulldogs. UMD dropped to 3-8-3 and 1-8-2 in the WCHA with their seventh loss in eight games.
The teams played a mostly defensive paced game through the first period and half, with each squad attempting seven shots on net and going scoreless in two power-play opportunities in the first 20 minutes.
UMD junior Mike Curry broke the scoreless deadlock with a wrister off a rebound from the lower right circle at the 12:09 mark of the second. Matt Greer unleashed a booming shot that took a big bounce off Lawson's pads out to a waiting Curry.
UAA wouldn't generate many scoring chances in the second, attempting only six shots on Bulldog freshman goalie Alex Stalock (21 saves).
The Bulldogs would hold their slim advantage for the first half of the third, but a more offensive minded Seawolf squad would finally break through at 10:38 of the period when freshman winger Kevin Clark punched in his third goal in as many games at the 10:38 mark, knotting the game at 1-1.
Clark, who missed a point-blank shot moments earlier, took advantage of a loose puck in front of a Stalock's pads. Stalock stopped junior Merit Waldrop's initial shot, but then lost sight of the rebound which trickled in front of him.
Anderson put the Seawolves ahead for good with his third-career game-winning goal 5:36 later to complete the comeback. The senior defenseman intercepted a UMD clearing attempt at the left point before letting loose a hard wrister from the top of the left circle for his fifth point (2-3?5) in five games.
UAA, who won for the first time this season when trailing at the end of two periods (1-2-0), was outshot 25-23 but held a 10-8 edge in the deciding third frame. Each team went 0 of 3 on the power play.
The two-game series between the ?Wolves and ?Dogs concludes Saturday at 7:07 p.m.
