ANCHORAGE – Two power-play goals for Alaska Anchorage lifted the Seawolves over in-state rival Alaska Fairbanks, 2-1 in a heated Game 1 of Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup that doubles as a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest at the Carlson Center on Friday night.
The Seawolves (6-11-4, 3-10-2 WCHA), who broke a four-game losing streak with the win, move into a two-way tie with Lake Superior State at No. 9 with eight points in the conference standings, while the Nanooks (12-10-1, 7-9-1 WCHA) sit at No. 6 with 15 points.
UAA, who received 34 saves from freshman goaltender Olivier Mantha, took a 1-0 lead in the Governor's Cup race that will conclude in Anchorage on March 6-7. The Seawolves held on to 2-1 lead for the final 20 minutes of play as the Nanooks couldn't keep their composure and were tagged for 64 minutes of infractions in the final stanza while looking for the equalizer.
Overall, UAF was penalized for 87 minutes – including a 10-minute bench penalty on an assistant coach Corbin Schmidt, while the Seawolves only spent 10 minutes in the box.
Before the bumpy third period, the Seawolves got on the board with a power-play strike by senior Scott Allen at 11:18 of the first, giving the Edmonton, Alberta, a team-high seven goals. A five-minute major on UAF's Josh Erickson for contact to the head, gave UAA its first of many power plays, with Allen capitalizing. Assists were credited to junior Blake Tatchell and freshman Jarrett Brown.
Twenty seconds later, freshman Tad Kozun let one from fire from the high slot to give UAA a 2-0 lead, but the goal was disallowed when the officials reviewed and determined that a Seawolf was in the crease.
At 15:17 senior Brett Cameron gave UAA a two-goal lead with another man-advantage strike when he collected a backdoor pass from Tatchell. Allen collected the second helper on the play, giving himself 4-4—8 totals in the last six games, while UAA's last four goals have come on the man advantage.
The Seawolves entered the locker room with the 2-0 lead that held until Nolan Kaiser netted a power-play goal at 4:31 of the second. Kaiser would eventually be ejected from the game late in the third period for checking-from-behind and receive a game disqualification, which will cause him to sit out tomorrow's game.
At the end of the game the Seawolves were outshot, 35-24. Mantha picked up the win to improve to 5-7-3 on the season, while UAF's netminder Sean Cahill made 22 stops.
The teams reunite tomorrow night at 7:07 p.m. for Game 2 of the four-game Cup series.
