ANCHORAGE ? Freshman Tommy Grant scored the game-winner with 3:35 to play as Alaska Anchorage struck the first blow in the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup series with a 4-3 victory at Sullivan Arena on Friday night.
The Seawolves (2-0-1) also got two assists from sophomore center Kevin Clark and two more points from winger Josh Lunden to begin defense of last year's Cup title.
Junior Tyler Eckford had a goal and an assist for the Nanooks, who were playing their first official contest of the 2007-08 campaign.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team leading by more than a goal. UAF struck first on Eckford's goal just 4 minutes in, but the Seawolves evened it at the 7:36 mark on Lunden's fourth tally of the year.
Junior defenseman Mat Robinson gave UAA its first lead with his first goal of the season, finding the back of the net on a pinpoint centering pass from Clark at 12:44 of the second period. UAF's Aaron Lee made it 2-2, however, when he stuffed in Adam Naglich's second assist of the night from point-blank range at 16:01.
After the teams entered the second intermission tied 2-2, the ice seemed to tilt toward the Nanook net for most of the third. UAA outshot the visitors 8-3 in the decisive final 20 minutes, grabbing a 3-2 advantage on Craig Parkinson's second goal of the year with 12 minutes left.
The only mistake UAA made all period led to a UAF goal, however, as Landon Novotney buried the puck on a slapshot off a 3-on-1 rush, making it 3-3 with 9 minutes to play.
With the tension mounting, Grant capped an impressive Seawolf offensive series when UAA kept the puck in the UAF zone for over a minute. The freshman from North Vancouver, British Columbia, finished the play when he took the puck, skated all the way around the Nanook net, then buried a wrister past goalie Chad Johnson with 3:35 remaining.
The Nanooks pulled Johnson with 46 seconds left but couldn't get a quality shot before the final horn.
Lunden increased his point total to seven (4g, 3a), while Clark also improved his point total to seven points (2g, 5a). Parkinson added an assist on Robinson's goal as well, pushing his point total to four (2 g, 2 a).
UAA now leads the all-time series 76-48-10 over its arch-rival, extending its unbeaten streak to five (4-0-1) since last year. The Seawolves have also won their last four against the Nanooks at Sullivan.
UAA and UAF will meet here again Saturday night, with faceoff coming 30 minutes earlier, at 7:07 p.m. ADT.
