HOUGHTON, Mich. - Senior forward Kevin Clark tallied his first career hat trick, helping the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves sweep the Michigan Tech Huskies with a 5-4 Western Collegiate Hockey Association win on Saturday at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.
The Huskies (3-19-1, 2-15-0 WCHA) scored the first goal of the game, but the Seawolves (8-13-1, 6-11-1 WCHA) responded with two goals in both the first and second periods for a 4-1 lead. Tech then registered three unanswered goals in the second, tying the game 4-4 before UAA scored the game-winner in the third.
Following an MTU goal by sophomore Brett Olson at 7:54 of the first, the Seawolves got the ball rolling with Clark's first goal of the evening at 11:19. A little over two minutes later, Clark scored again, giving the Seawolves their first lead of the game at 13:33. Junior forward Tommy Grant and sophomore transfer Brad Gorham each were credited with an assist.
The UAA's first line came out in full force when Grant scored his second goal of the weekend at 3:05 of the second frame. Clark assisted on the play, before netting his final goal at 4:22.
The Huskies took control in the final six minutes of the period, finding the back of the net on three occasions, sending the players into the lockeroom tied 4-4.
The Seawolves wasted no time retaking the lead, however, with a goal by junior forward Sean Wiles at 1:29 of the third period. Freshman Drew Darwitz registered the helper on the game-winner for his first collegiate point.
Picking up his fifth win of the season was senior goaltender Jon Olthuis. Making his fourth consecutive start in net, the Canadian improved his record to 5-7-1 with 32 saves. In net for the Huskies, Josh Robinson dropped his record to 1-7-0.
Despite the score, the Huskies outshot the Seawolves, 36-22.
UAA (1-3) and MTU (1-4) were both able to capitalize on one power-play opportunity. The Seawolves were whistled for five penalties, serving 10 minutes, while the Huskies went 4-for-11.
Clark's hat trick is the first for a Seawolf player since Paul Crowder's on Dec. 8, 2007 against Minnesota Duluth (5-3). Clark completed the weekend in Houghton with six points (4g, 2a), including a season-best four points tonight.
The win gave the Seawolves their first WCHA sweep of the season. The last time the Seawolves swept a team on the road was on March 5-6, 2009 against UMD (5-4, 4-3). With the sweep, the Seawolves retook the all-time series lead from the Huskies, 25-24-10.
UAA will return home for a four-game home stand against Colorado College on Jan. 22-23 and on Jan. 29-30 against Minnesota. All games are scheduled to start at 7:07 p.m. AST.
