MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. ? A pair of goals by junior Paul Crowder wasn't enough for Alaska Anchorage to defeat No. 14 Minnesota as the Gophers pulled away, 4-2 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game on Saturday night in front of 9,810 spectators at Mariucci Arena.
Crowder, a native of British Columbia, posted his 11th goal and fifth power play goal of the season in the first period to tie the game at 1-1. With the Gophers' Ryan Flynn serving two minutes for tripping, junior Trevor Hunt found Crowder's stick for the goal at 3:35 of the period. Junior Kevin Clark received the second helper on the power play goal.
With the Seawolves (10-13-5, 7-12-5 WCHA) down, 3-1 in the third period, Crowder snagged his 12th goal of the season when he sent a wrist shot past Minnesota's netminder, Alex Kangas for UAA's second and final tally. Crowder was unassisted on the play, brining the Seawolves within one point at 3-2.
The Golden Gophers (13-9-6, 10-8-4 WCHA) took the lead from the beginning and never let up, posting three goals in the last two periods for the victory. UM's Cade Fairchild was able to get by UAA's goalie Bryce Christianson at 2:13 of the first for the initial lead.
David Fischer added his second goal of the season when Christianson went back behind the net to clear the puck and wasn't able to get back into position before the shot went off. Fischer was unassisted on the goal and gave the Gophers a 2-1 lead.
The game-winning goal for Minnesota came from Jay Barriball on the man-advantage after senior Mat Robinson was tagged for a 10-minute game misconduct after a checking from behind infraction. Barriball received the puck from Jordan Schroeder and Fairchild with 29 seconds remaining in the second.
Following Crowder's last goal, Minnesota secured the win with a goal by the nations leading freshman in points, Schroeder, with his 12th goal of the year. Schroeder was able to forge the final 4-2 win on a pass from Mike Hoeffel at 7:26 of the final frame.
The Seawolves lacked on offense, only placing 17 shots on net compared to the Gopher's 31. Kangas received the victory, improving his record to 13-9-6. Christianson was credited with 27 saves and dropped his record to 5-5-4.
The Seawolves were able to score on the power play for the third straight game when they went 1-for-5. The Gophers also took advantage of one of their five power play opportunities. UAA spent 27 minutes in the box on eight penalties, while UM was whistled for eight on 16 minutes.
Minnesota grabbed three points in the conference series this weekend, while Alaska Anchorage received one. The Gophers moved into sixth place in the standings with 24 points and the Seawolves remain in ninth with 19, one behind Minnesota State.
UAA will have one more conference series at home to received points in the WCHA when they play host to the No. 11 North Dakota Fighting Sioux on Feb. 20-21 at the Sullivan Arena.
