ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – Alaska Anchorage dominated the special teams battle scoring two goals on the powerplay and a third goal short-handed on its way to a 5-2 win over Lake Superior State at the Avis Alaska Sports Complex Friday.
"Tonight was an absolute team win," said head coach Eric Rud, after his first career win with the Seawolves. "Every single guy was playing for each other. The guys put forth a relentless resilient effort. This is a close-knit group who deserves to be rewarded for the hard work they have put in the last months."
Rhett Ravndahl opened the scoring for the Seawolves with his first career goal at 13:11 of the first period.
Less than one minute later, Tye Spencer scored his team-leading third goal of the season on the powerplay.
With less than ten seconds remaining in the first period, Oren Shtrom scored an unassisted breakaway short-handed goal to give the Seawolves a 3-0 lead at the first intermission. Shtrom collected two assists in the game to finish with a career-high three points.
Markus Loponen put the Lakers on the scoreboard at 1:36 of the second period, but Jacob Terpstra responded with a power-play goal at 5:07.
Adam Belusko scored the second goal for the Lakers at 7:50 of the second period.
Ethan Neutens, who assisted on the Seawolve's first goal, scored his first career goal at 10:34 of the third period.
Karter McNarland finished with a career-high three assists, and Jalen Bianchet added a career-high two assists.
Joey Rocha finished with 20 saves for his first career win for the Seawolves.
UAA finished 2-for-5 on the powerplay and held LSSU 0-for-5.
"Most nights in college hockey, special teams are the difference," said Eric Rud. "I was proud of how our guys handled different situations."
The Lakers out-shot the Seawolves 22-20.
UAA and LSSU will close out the weekend series Saturday at 3 pm.
