SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Lake Superior State Lakers defeated the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves 5-3 Friday in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game.

The Seawolves struck first, but four consecutive tallies by the Lakers (13-13-1, 9-10-0 WCHA) in the second frame dropped UAA to 13-11-3 overall and 9-9-3 in league play. Combined with a Michigan Tech win over Alabama Huntsville, the Seawolves fall to No. 5 in the conference with 21 points.

Ten seconds after the Seawolf power play expired, UAA took a 1-0 lead with a tally from junior Andrew Pettitt. Freshman forward Zack Rassell dumped it back to Pettitt for his second of the season at 11:58. Then, with freshman Chase Van Allen in the box for boarding, the Lakers responded with a man-advantage strike, just 28 second into the power play, with a strike from Colin Campbell at 14:59. Dan Radke and Alex Globke assisted on the play, making it 1-1 going into the first intermission.

After killing off a Laker power play in which senior netminder Chris Kamal made two huge saves, LSSU took the lead with an even-strength tally by Ian Miller at 5:08 of the second. Then two tallies, 28 seconds apart gave the Lakers a 4-1 lead, chasing Kamal from net and making way for freshman Michael Matyas, who hadn't seen ice time since Dec. 13 against the Lakers.

With a minute and 25 seconds left in the frame, freshman Brad Duwe collected his second of the season to make it 4-2, but unfortunately for the Seawolves, any momentum going into the lockerroom ended when the Lakers netted a heartbreaker at the buzzer.

At 5:59 of the third, defenseman Austin Sevalrud captured the first of his career with the helpers going to Matt Bailey and Brett Cameron for the 5-3 final.

The Seawolves were outshot 32-26 by the Lakers.UAA went 0-for-2 on the man advantage, while LSSU was successful on 2-of-7 power play opportunities.

The teams will rematch tomorrow night at 3:07 p.m. AST at Taffy Abel Arena.