Scoreboard

Badgers thwart Seawolf rally, win 6-3

Men's Ice Hockey UAA Media Relations

Badgers thwart Seawolf rally, win 6-3

ANCHORAGE ? The Alaska Anchorage hockey team found themselves down 3-1 to Wisconsin after the first period and were never quite able to recover as they fell 6-3 to the Badgers in a WCHA encounter at Sullivan Arena Saturday night. The Seawolves are now 7-9-2 overall and 4-7-2 in WCHA play while the Badgers improved to 12-9-3 overall and 9-5-2 in the WCHA.

The loss was UAA's fifth straight and fourth in a row to Wisconsin, whom they played prior to the semester break in Madison. With the two-game sweep, the Badgers are now 12-3-2 over their last 17 games.

Tommy Grant got the Seawolves on the board first at 2:45 of the first period as he shoveled home a pretty cross ice feed from linemate Sean Wiles. Paul Crowder also received an assist on the goal.

But the Badgers scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead at the end of one. Wisconsin tied things at 1-1 at 13:00 of the first when winger Tom Gorowsky put home his own rebound. Andy Bohmbach and Jamie McBain assisted on the goal.

The Badgers went up 2-1 just 2:22 later as they took advantage of a Nils Backstrom penalty and UW's Blake Geoffrion scored on the power play. Derek Stepan and Ben Grotting received assists on the man-advantage tally.

The Badgers' fourth-line centerman, Sean Dolan, made it 3-1 Wisconsin when his wrister from the left circle beat Seawolf netminder Bryce Christiansen. Eric Springer received an assist on the goal.

The teams traded goals in a tightly-checked second frame. At 14:21 of the period a five-minute major by UAA's  Jade Portwood and a double-minor to  UW's Cody Goloubef had the teams skating four-on-four.

 Both teams used the open ice to their advantage. Wisconsin made it 4-1 on a wrister from McBain, assisted by John Mitchell, at 15:29. The Seawolves crept back to within two as Kevin Clark banged home a feed from Kane Lafranchise just 38 seconds later ? at 16:07 ? to make it 4-2.

UAA's Craig Parkinson made it 4-3 at 3:08 of the third when he took a feed from linemate Brian Bales right in front and beat Badger goalie Shane Connelly high to the glove side.

Wisconsin's Aaron Bendickson used a screen from Grotting to make it 5-3 at 17:09 and effectively put the game away for the Badgers. Stepan assisted on the tally.

With UAA's Christiansen pulled for an extra attacker, the Badgers' Grotting scored an empty-netter from the blue line at 1:18 on an assist from Jake Gardiner to end the scoring.

Wisconsin outshot UAA 37-25 for the game. The Badgers went 1-for-5 on the power play while the Seawolves were 0-for-4. Connelly had 22 saves in goal for Wisconsin, improving to 11-7-3 on the season. UAA's Christiansen had 31 saves and is now 3-4-2 on the season.

The game featured the debut of freshman winger August Aiken who joined the team at semester break. A native of Whittier, Calif., Aiken played for the Trail Smoke Eaters of the BCHL.

UAA will travel to Mankato next weekend (Jan. 16-17) to take on Minnesota State in a WCHA series.  The Seawolves will return home to host Michigan Tech on Jan. 23-24.
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Players Mentioned

Nils Backstrom

#13 Nils Backstrom

D
6' 1"
Freshman
R
Kevin Clark

#9 Kevin Clark

F
5' 8"
Freshman
R
Paul Crowder

#11 Paul Crowder

F
6' 3"
Freshman
R
Brian Bales

#11 Brian Bales

F
5' 11"
Junior
L
Tommy Grant

#16 Tommy Grant

F
6' 2"
Freshman
L
Kane Lafranchise

#4 Kane Lafranchise

D
6' 1"
Freshman
L
Craig Parkinson

#17 Craig Parkinson

F
6' 0"
Freshman
R
Sean Wiles

#27 Sean Wiles

F
6' 3"
Freshman
R
August Aiken

#39 August Aiken

F
5' 9"
Freshman
L
Jade Portwood

#36 Jade Portwood

F
6' 3"
Freshman
L

Players Mentioned

Nils Backstrom

#13 Nils Backstrom

6' 1"
Freshman
R
D
Kevin Clark

#9 Kevin Clark

5' 8"
Freshman
R
F
Paul Crowder

#11 Paul Crowder

6' 3"
Freshman
R
F
Brian Bales

#11 Brian Bales

5' 11"
Junior
L
F
Tommy Grant

#16 Tommy Grant

6' 2"
Freshman
L
F
Kane Lafranchise

#4 Kane Lafranchise

6' 1"
Freshman
L
D
Craig Parkinson

#17 Craig Parkinson

6' 0"
Freshman
R
F
Sean Wiles

#27 Sean Wiles

6' 3"
Freshman
R
F
August Aiken

#39 August Aiken

5' 9"
Freshman
L
F
Jade Portwood

#36 Jade Portwood

6' 3"
Freshman
L
F