ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Ryan Lasch scored two goals and Aaron Brocklehurst tallied three points to lead No. 19-ranked St. Cloud State to a 5-3 win over Alaska Anchorage in front of a packed house here at the National Hockey Center tonight.
Freshman Tommy Grant, senior Chris Tarkir and sophomore Kevin Clark recorded goals for the Seawolves, who dropped to 3-2-2 overall and 0-2-1 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with their second consecutive loss.
UAA struck with the game's first goal for just the third time this season when Grant drilled a one-timer past Husky goalie Jase Weslosky 5:01 into the game, giving the Green & Gold an early 1-0 lead. Freshman defenseman Luka Vidmar recorded his second assist of the season by feeding a perfect cross-ice pass to a waiting Grant, who collected his second goal with the power-play tally. Freshman Brad McCabe picked up the second assist, giving him three points on the year.
The lead would last for nearly four minutes before SCSU (4-2-1, 1-2-0 WCHA) would score the next four goals, including back-to-back power-play markers in the first period, to take a commanding 4-1 lead by the 15:23 mark of the second.
Lasch scored the first of his two goals with a power-play tally at 8:56 of the first, knotting the game at 1-1, before Brocklehurst would add the Huskies' second straight man-advantage score two minutes later. Nate Dey's laser from the left circle at 8:29 of the second frame put SCSU ahead 3-1, while Tony Mosey would give the home team a three-goal edge with his third goal of the season at the 15:23.
UAA cut the lead to 4-2 just 14 seconds after SCSU's fourth goal on an unassisted wrister from Tarkir. The senior winger ripped a shot from the left circle that squeezed stick side between Weslosky and the left post.
SCSU regained its three-goal advantage at the 11:12 mark of the third on Lasch's second goal of the night, but the Seawolves would once again respond quickly with Clark's third marker of the season just under a minute later, cutting the lead to 5-3. Senior Blair Tassone pushed a cross-ice pass through the slot to an unguarded Clark who drilled the puck high into the net. Freshman defenseman Kane Lafranchise registered his second point of the season by recording the second helper on the goal.
Sophomore goalie Jon Olthuis, who made 23 saves, was pulled in favor of an extra attacker for the final 55 seconds of regulation, but UAA was held in check.
The Huskies, who won the shots battle 28-26, were 2-for-7 on the power play while the Seawolves were 1-for-3.
The loss, the sixth straight in a regular-season road contest for UAA, dropped it to 0-27-2 all-time at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.
The two-game series concludes Saturday with a 4:07 p.m. (Alaska) faceoff time.
