ANCHORAGE ? Nils Backstrom and Josh Lunden scored first-period goals Friday as 20th-ranked Alaska Anchorage remained undefeated on the season with a 2-2 tie against Minnesota State in its Western Collegiate Hockey Association opener at Sullivan Arena.

UAA (3-0-2, 0-0-1 WCHA) got 21 saves from sophomore goaltender Jon Olthuis, but it was the Mavericks (0-2-1, 0-2-1) who came away with a positive feeling thanks to their comeback from a 2-0 deficit.

Backstrom opened the scoring just 23 seconds into the game, beating MSU goalie Mike Zacharias (27 saves) on a feed from Peter Cartwright and Mat Robinson. It was the second point of the year for Backstrom, a junior defenseman, the fourth assist for Cartwright and third point for Robinson

UAA took a 2-goal advantage when Lunden, a sophomore left wing, scored his team-high fifth goal on a wrister from about 15 feet with 2:18 on the clock. Freshman defenseman Luka Vidmar earned his first assist on the play.

MSU began its comeback when sophomore center Kael Mouillierat stuffed home his first goal of the year on a goal-mouth scrum six minutes into the second. The Mavericks tied it on Channing Boe's slap shot from the point with 8:46 left in the third period.

Friday's offensive output doubled MSU entire goal total from last week when the Mavericks scored just once in two losses at Michigan Tech.

Despite the bitter taste of Friday's tie, UAA improved its season-high unbeaten streak to five, equaling the program's longest such string to start a season since 1991-92. The Seawolves started 6-0-0 that season ? two years before joining the WCHA and the last year they made the NCAA Tournament.

The Seawolves and Mavericks skate again at Sullivan Arena on Saturday (7:37 p.m.) as UAA winds up its 6-game homestand.