ANCHORAGE – The go-ahead goal by J.T. Henke put the Lake Superior State Lakers on top over the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, 3-2, in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game at the Sullivan Arena on Friday evening.
The Lakers (11-18-4, 8-11-4 WCHA) extended their lead over the Seawolves (10-16-3, 7-14-2 WCHA) in the conference standings by four points. UAA is currently tied for eighth in the standings with 16 points, while the Laker sit seventh with 20 points.
Following Henke's power-play goal at 15:14 of the third, the Seawolves pulled netminder Olivier Mantha for the extra attacker with 1:59 left in regulation. That, combined with a hooking call on the Lakers' Mitch Hults at 18:01, gave the Seawolves a 6-on-4 advantage. Unfortunately, the Seawolves couldn't capitalize before the finals seconds ticked off the clock.
The night started when the Lakers, coached by former UAA assistant coach Damon Whitten, scored two unanswered goals in the opening stanza to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Scoring at 8:53 was freshman Josh Nenadal and sophomore Scott Patterson picked up his first of the season at 16:10. The Seawolves found themselves out of position for the Nenadal strike, while Patterson broke through the defense and scored a breakaway, five-hole tally.
Within a span of 42 seconds, the Seawolves tied the game, 2-2 with a pair of goals by its leadership group. Assistant captains Blake Tatchell and Matt Anholt scored back-to-back strikes at :50 and 1:32. With the goal, Tatchell – who is second on the team with eight goals – collected his 100-career point, becoming just the 23rd Seawolf to do so. Meanwhile, Anholt scored his fifth of the season.
Freshman defenseman Wyatt Ege was the first assist on both tallies – his second multi-point game of the season – while Anholt and Anthony Conti also earned assists. With the goal and assist, Anholt extends his current point streak to six games (1-6—7), while Conti has 2-6—8 totals in the last nine games.
Mantha (9-14-3) made 26 saves in the loss, while Gordon Defiel turned aside 22. LSSU outshot UAA, 29-24.
The teams unite tomorrow evening at 7:07 p.m.
