ANCHORAGE – Alaska Anchorage picked up its first Western
Collegiate Hockey Association win of the season with a 3-1 victory over the No.
14/15-ranked St. Cloud State Huskies, earning the series split Saturday night
at the Sullivan Arena.
UAA used two goals in the first period and a third in the
second for a 3-0 lead before the Huskies ended the shutout with a strike less
than five minutes into the final frame. The win breaks a seven-game winless
streak for the Seawolves and marks UAA's first against a ranked opponent this
season.
The Seawolves were first to strike in the opening stanza
when sophomore winger Scott Allen netted his team-leading seventh tally of the
season at 3:53. Senior Alex Gellert placed a centering pass on rookie Blake
Tatchell, who fired on net before Allen – on his knees – collected the rebound
for the 1-0 lead.
At 13:19 junior defenseman Quinn Sproule – skating as a forward
tonight – entered the Husky zone on the right and gave a streaking Scott Warner
a cross pass, who caught netminder Ryan Faragher out of position with a wrister
on the opposite side.
Just like Friday evening, the Seawolves furnished a 3-0
lead, this time in the opening minutes of the second period. Freshman Hayden
Trupp, who scored a goal for UAA last night, fed senior Daniel Naslund a pass
for his first strike of the season and second point of the weekend at 2:24.
SCSU would get on the board at 15:36 of the third with a back-door
goal by Jonny Brodzinski, but despite a 16-2 edge on shots in the period, the Huskies
would come up short. SCSU even enjoyed a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 32.3
seconds, but the Seawolves were able to keep them at bay.
Showing no rust in net after not starting since Nov. 9 against
Minnesota was junior Chris Kamal. A local of Alpharetta, Ga., Kamal registered
a season-high 32 saves in net for the win and a 2-3-0 record. Faragher made 19
stops, dropping his record to 7-6-0.
The Seawolves and Huskies were both scoreless on the man
advantage with UAA going 0-for-3 and SCSU going 0-for-4. The Seawolves were
tagged for 10 minutes of infractions to the Huskies eight.
The Seawolves hit the road for a WCHA series at Minnesota
State, Dec. 7-8. Friday's game is scheduled for 4:37 p.m. AST, while the puck
is scheduled to drop at 4:07 p.m. AST on Saturday.
