MADISON, Wis. ? No. 15 Alaska Anchorage and Wisconsin fought to a scoreless first period before the Badgers came back in the second with three unanswered goals to defeat the Seawolves, 3-2 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Kohl Center Friday night.
The Seawolves (7-6-2, 4-5-2 WCHA) responded in the third with a goal by Sean Wiles at 11:16 and a power play goal by Trevor Hunt at 16:59, but were unable to finish for the WCHA win in front of 12,268 fans.
After a scoreless first period, Wisconsin's Blake Geoffrion put the Badgers on the board with a power play goal at 3:42 of the second. Michael Davies and Jamie McBain were credited with the assists.
The Seawolves were unable to make the most of a two-man advantage, that was just shy of two minutes, in the middle of the second. UAA came up short as the Badger's goaltender Shane Connolly blocked three shots in the penalty kill.
UW (8-7-2, 6-5-2 WCHA) broke away from the Seawolves with two goals, just 21 seconds apart. With Nick Haddad in the box for his third penalty of the game, Davies passed the puck to Derek Stepan, who found the net at 17:22. Cody Goloubef got the game-winning goal after capitalizing on the momentum to score the first even strength goal of the night at 17:43 on a pass from Ben Grotting and Matt Thurber.
The second ended with UAA's Jared Tuton and UW's Patrick Johnson each being whistled for ten minute misconducts.
Wiles, a native of Beliot, Wis., ended the shutout for the Badgers with a unassisted goal - his second of the season.
Hunt's power play goal broke a four-game stretch where the Seawolves were scoreless on power plays. The goal was Hunt's first of the season and assists were credited to Curtis Leinweber and Paul Crowder.
The Seawolves goalie Bryce Christianson posted 21 saves and slipped to 3-2-2, while Connolly recorded 35 saves en route to the conference victory and improved to 7-5-2.
Despite the score, UAA led with 37 shots over the UW's 24. The two teams evened out on penalties at 10 apiece for 28 minutes.
The Seawolves will get a rematch with the Badgers on Saturday at the Kohl Center. The puck is scheduled to drop at 4:07 p.m. AST.
