FAIRBANKS - Robert Morris took advantage of 23 minutes worth of Alaska Anchorage penalties en route to a 5-3 win over the Seawolves in Day 2 of the Brice Alaska Goal Rush tournament at the Carlson Center Saturday afternoon.
The Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks will take on the RPI Engineers in game four of the tournament at 6:35 p.m. to determine the winner of the tournament.
The Colonials (1-1-0) took the early lead in the first period of play, 1-0 before the two teams went back and forth in the second each scoring three goals. The Seawolves (2-2-0) managed to tie the game on three occasions, but Robert Morris added a goal in the third for the final 5-3 score. Prevails
The Colonials got on the board first with six seconds remaining in the first period to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Junior forward Scott Kobialko netted his first goal of the season at 19:54 on a pass from junior Chris Kushneriuk and freshman Zach Hervato.
In what turned out to be a ping pong game of a second period, sophomore defenseman Curtis Leinweber (1-1—2) evened the game at one goal apiece at 4:20 with his first goal season. Senior forward Kevin Clark (3-2—5) and freshman forward Alex Gellert (1-1—2) picked up the helpers.
The UAA momentum was quickly lost as freshmen Mitch Bruijsten (hooking) and Lee Baldwin (boarding) were each sent to the penalty box within 28 seconds apart from each other, putting the Seawolves on the first of three 5-on-3 penalty kills. Senior netminder Jon Olthuis came up with multiple saves before the Colonials' Trevor Lewis found the back of the net at 7:16.
The Seawolves retaliated with a goal from Fairbanks local, junior forward Nick Haddad (1-2—3) at 9:54 of the second period tying the game at deuces. Junior forward Tommy Grant (2-3—5) was credited with the assist.
The Seawolf excitement was once again cut short as Robert Morris responded with another goal, taking the lead at 3-2. Brandon Blandina was able to get by Olthuis on a pass from Furman South and Ron Cramer at 12:13.
The Colonials got a chance for a two-goal lead when the Seawolves found themselves on the second 5-on-3 penalty kill. Baldwin (13:13) was whistled for holding a stick, while junior Kane Lafranchise (14:28) received a five-minute major for boarding.
The Seawolves were able to kill off Baldwin's penalty and were shorthanded when Clark broke away from the pack in the neutral zone and defeated Robert Morris' goaltender Brooks Ostergard. Clark, a local of Winnipeg, Manitoba, registered his second tally of the season at 16:41, tying the game at 3-3 on a pass from Leinweber.
With Lafranchise still in the box serving time for his major, Baldwin was once again in trouble and tagged for tripping, giving Robert Morris its third 5-on-3 man advantage of the period.
The Colonials struck again on the power play with a goal from Denny Urban at 18:05 for the final goal of the second period. The teams headed to the locker rooms for the second intermission with Robert Morris leading, 4-3.
Robert Morris extended its lead to two and the final 5-3 score at 12:13 of the third period off of Nick Chiavetta's stick.
Special teams were in full force for both teams as UAA registered one man advantage goal and a shorthanded goal, while Robert Morris picked up two power play tallies. UAA was 1-for-4 on the power play and the Colonials were 2-for-8.
After a successful performance against RPI on Friday night, Olthuis (2-1-0) earned the starting position and registered 26 saves with the loss. Ostergard (1-1-0) picked up the victory with 24 saves.
Robert Morris outshot UAA, 31-27. The Seawolves were whistled for 10 penalties, serving 23 minutes in the box, RMU picked up five penalties for 10 minutes.
The Seawolves will return to the Sullivan Arena on Oct. 23-24 for their conference opener against the No. 4 North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Both games will commence at 7:07 p.m.
