ANCHORAGE -- Senior forward Kevin Clark registered his second-straight two-goal game, but it wasn't enough as the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves fell to the No. 12 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, 6-3 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game on Saturday night.
With the loss, the Seawolves (11-21-2, 9-17-2 WCHA) will head to Wisconsin to face the Badgers in the First Round of the WCHA playoffs in a best-of-three series on March 12-14. Minnesota Duluth (20-15-1, 16-11-1 WCHA) will host Colorado College.
Clark picked up his WCHA-leading 22nd and 23rd goals of the season – which ranks him eighth in the nation. Clark has scored the most goals in a single season since Derek Donald tallied 23 during the 1991-92 season.
After a scoreless first period, the Bulldogs took a three-nothing lead until Clark netted his first goal with 31 seconds remaining in the second frame. Senior forward Josh Lunden and junior defenseman Luka Vidmar picked up the helpers on the power-play goal at 19:29.
The Seawolves came within one goal with a shorthanded strike by junior forward Tommy Grant at 3:43 of the third, but the momentum was short lived as UMD's David Grun responded with two power-play goals at 4:10 (game-winner) and 9:33. Junior forward Craig Parkinson assisted on the play.
At 13:22, UAA pulled netminder Jon Olthuis (18 saves) for the extra attacker and was successful as Clark added his second tally at 14:33 off of a pass from Parkinson and Grant.
The Bulldogs' Brady Lamb recorded the empty net goal with four minutes left in the game for the final.
The Seawolves managed to outshoot the Bulldogs, 27-24. UAA was tagged for 26 minutes of penalties, while UMD spent 20 minutes in the box. The Seawolves were successful on 1-for-5 power play attempts and the Bulldogs took advantage on 3-of-5 opportunities.
