HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Sophomore goaltender Olivier Mantha backstopped Alaska Anchorage Seawolves to a 3-2 victory at the Von Braun Center against Alabama Huntsville with 37 saves in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game Saturday.
Sophomore Anthony Conti and senior defenseman Blake Leask each picked up multi-point games, as the Seawolves (4-1-1) collected their first conference win of the season and three points on the weekend following a 3-3 tie last night against the Chargers (1-2-1).
Mantha, from La Tuque, Quebec, furnished his third win of the season with a season high 37 stops – including 17 saves in the first period. Mantha, UAA MVP from last season, also stopped 35 last night, for a .935 save percentage on the weekend.
The night started with Conti's third of the season at 12:09 of the first, giving UAA a 1-0 lead heading into the locker room. Assistant captain Matt Anholt (2-5—7) registered the primary assist on Conti's goal for his seventh point on the season and a team-high six-game point streak.
UAA went up, 2-0, at 4:48 of the second when Dylan Hubbs found the net. The assist went to Conti for his second multi-point game of the year. Collecting his first collegiate goal in eight career games played was Anchorage native Connor Wright at 14:49. Meanwhile, Leask assisted on Wright's tally as well as Conti's for his first points of the season.
The Chargers goals came at 5:50 of the second by Jetlan Houcher and at 12:21 of the third by Max McHugh.
After back-to-back games with multiple power-play goals, the Seawolves were kept scoreless on four attempts, while allowing the Chargers to go 1-for-3. UAH found the net 39 times, while UAA hit Carmine Guerriero with 22 shots. Guerriero was pulled in the last minutes of play for the extra attacker, but the Chargers couldn't break Mantha.
UAA will return home for a month when they host two WCHA series – Bowling Green (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) and Ferris State (Nov. 13-14) – before wrapping up non-conference play with Penn State on Nov. 20-21. The BGSU series will commence at 2 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday and will feature trick-or-treating on Saturday (1-2pm) and a 'Skate with the Seawolves' following Sunday's game.
