ANCHORAGE – Thanks to a three-point game by senior forward Blake Tatchell, the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves are off to their best start as members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association following a 4-2 victory Saturday over the #12 Bowling Green Falcons in conference game at the Sullivan Arena.
Giving himself a team-high 10 points with a goal and two assists, Tatchell led the Seawolves (5-1-1, 2-0-1 WCHA) to their fifth win of the season and a 78.5 winning percentage on the year – UAA's best since being a NCAA Div. I Independent in 1991-92 (6-1, 85.7%). The Falcons, who were playing in their first league match, fell to 3-2-1 overall.
The scoring started with just 1:34 expired on the clock in the opening stanza, when the Seawolves scored first for the sixth time this season. Tatchell picked up his fourth goal of the season when he fired a wrister off the left peg. Freshman Mason Mitchell – who was skating with the top line for the first time – picked up the primary helper, while Jeremiah Luedtke claimed his team-leading seventh assist.
The teams traded power-play chances before the Falcons got on the board at 17:25 with a tally by Chris Pohlkamp. UAA responded the very next shift with freshman Cam Amantea's first collegiate goal. Amantea collected his own rebound at 18:06 to put the Seawolves back on top before the intermission.
After the 15-minute break, back-to-Back interference calls on the Falcons got the momentum going again for the Seawolves. After 42 seconds of a 5-on-3, the Seawolves registered their seventh power-play strike at 6:27 with junior Chase Van Allen's first of the season. The Anchorage native fired from the slot to give UAA a 3-1 advantage.
The Seawolf lead grew to three when sophomore Tad Kozun and classmate Austin Azurdia were successful with a 2-on-1 at 18:16 of the second – giving UAA four plus goals for the third time of the season. Prior to the start of the game, the Seawolves led the WCHA with 3.50 goals per game and are now averaging 3.57 strikes per game.
Following the second intermission, the Falcons rotated goalies, putting Chris Nell between the pipes for Tommy Burke. UAA was unable to break Burke throughout the 30 minutes, but the Falcons managed to cut the deficit in half, scoring a breakaway goal with 58.4 seconds remaining.
Collecting the win with 22 saves was sophomore goaltender Olivier Mantha (4-1-1), while Burke took the loss (2-1-0) with 16 stops. Nell made three saves in the third.
UAA kept BGSU scoreless on four power plays – the Falcons haven't scored on the man advantage this season – while the Seawolves went 1-for-2. BGSU edged UAA in shots on goal, 24-23.
The teams return to the Sullivan Arena Sunday with start time slated for 2 p.m. ADT. The first 500 fans into the game will receive a free foam claw, while fans are encouraged to stick around after the game for a Skate with the Seawolves.
