MANKATO, Minn. ? A pair of goals by Josh Lunden lifted the Seawolves to a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota State Mavericks in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game on Friday night, breaking a five-game losing streak.
In front of 4,302 fans, Lunden put the Seawolves (8-9-2, 5-8-2 WCHA) up 1-0 in the first and scored a game winning goal in the third to put UAA on top 3-2. Tommy Grant secured the win with his 14th goal of the season on an empty net with less than 30 seconds left to go in the game.
The Seawolves got on the board first for the third consecutive game with Lunden's eighth goal of the season, at 8:47 of the first period. Sophomore Nick Haddad won the face off with the Maverick's Andrew Sackrison, Lunden scooped up the puck and backhanded it top shelf over MSU's goaltender, Dan Tormey.
The Mavericks (10-11-3, 6-9-2 WCHA) retaliated with 28 seconds remaining in the period with a power play goal by Mike Louwerse. MSU's Kurt Davis sent the puck on net from the blue line, where Louwerse was able to grab the rebound and tap it in past the Seawolves goalie, Jon Olthuis, ending the first, 1-1.
The Seawolves let the Mavericks take their first and only lead of the game with a goal by Trevor Bruess (10) at 5:23 of the second period. With no defense in front of the net, Bruess was able to slip a one timer into the net. Assists were credited to Mick Berge and James Gaulrapp.
The Maverick lead was short lived, as junior Trevor Hunt score his second goal of the season at 8:32 on the power play. Hunt received the puck from Curtis Leinweber and Kevin Clark, tying the game back up, 2-2.
The third remained tied throughout the majority of play, with a lot of continuous action. Lunden netted his second goal of the game with 3:38 to go in the period. Haddad sent the puck to the net where it was deflected by Clark to Lunden for the game winner.
With a minute left in play, the Mavericks pulled Tormey from goal leaving an empty net for the taking. During the six on five action, Grant broke away with the puck and sent it into the empty net from beyond the blue line, giving Grant a four-game goal streak.
The Seawolves posted their fewest amount of penalties of the season, only being whistled for three discretions and serving the fewest minutes of the season (6). One of the UAA penalties was for too many players on the ice. MSU was tagged for five penalties.
In net, Olthuis ended the night with the victory giving him a 5-5-0 record. Olthuis recorded 22 saves en route to the win and Tormey was credited with 18 saves.
Both teams were able to convert on the one man advantage. UAA was able to score on the power play for the first time since Dec. 5. The Seawolves were 1-5, while the Mavericks were 1-3.
With the victory tonight, the Seawolves bypassed their overall winning record from last season. UAA remaines in 9th place in the conference standings, two points behind MSU and St. Cloud State.
The Seawolves will return to action on Jan. 7 at the Alltel Center for the second game of the WHCA series. Game time is set for 4:07 p.m. (AST) and can be viewed live on GCI Channel 1.
