ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A late power-play goal lifted Lake Superior State 3-2 over Alaska Anchorage on the road in Friday night's Western Collegiate Hockey Association series opener. The victory keeps the Lakers (11-18-4, 8-11-4 WCHA) alone at seventh place in the WCHA standings and provides a four-point cushion ahead of UAA and Alaska Fairbanks.
Sophomore goaltender Gordon Defiel responded well after allowing two goals in the opening minutes of the second period by UAA to tie the game and eventually held on to record his eighth win of the season. Defiel (8-11-3) made 22 saves and stood tall when his team needed him the most.
The Lakers opened the scoring 8:53 into the first period with a goal by Josh Nenadal (5-1--6). The goal by the freshman Nenadal, his fifth of the season, was assisted by Gus Correale (5-8--13) and C.J. Hayes (3-3--6).
Correale, playing in his 100th career game as a Laker, finished with two assists on the night.
With 3:50 remaining in the opening period sophomore Scott Patterson (1-0--1) split a pair of Seawolves defenders and fired a shot through the legs of starting goaltender Olivier Mantha. Fellow sophomore Kyle Chatham (1-4--5) set up Patterson with the pass through the neutral zone for the lone assist.
The Lakers took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission and held a 12-7 advantage in shots.
The Seawolves (10-16-3, 7-14-2 WCHA) responded and quickly tied the game in under two minutes of play into the second period.
Blake Tatchell scored his eighth goal of the season and 100th career point 50 seconds into the middle frame to cut the Laker lead in half at 2-1. Moments later Matt Anholt scored his fifth goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2. Freshman defenseman Wyatt Ege assisted on both UAA goals to open the period.
The goals by Tatchell and Anholt were the only the only scoring by either side as the teams went to the dressing rooms for the final time knotted at 2-2. The Lakers led 23-17 in shots after two periods of play.
With just over seven minutes remaining the Lakers let their guard down and committed a potentially costly penalty. The penalty kill stood tall and as Correale exited the penalty box he was able to wrestle the puck from a Seawolves defender and turned the tables after getting hauled down with a tripping by Chase Van Allen. The second power play of the night for the Lakers was successful as J.T. Henke (8-8--16) was able to fire a perfectly placed one-time by Correale past a sprawling Mantha and put LSSU up 3-2.
The goal by Henke held up as his second consecutive game-winning goal on the power play. Correale logged his second assist of the evening and freshman Mitch Hults (6-9--15) recorded an assist on the go-ahead tally.
With 1:59 remaining in regulation and Mantha pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Hults was called for hooking, setting up the third power play of the night for the Seawolves.
Staring down a six-on-four advantage in favor of UAA, the Laker penalty killing unit held strong and Gordon Defiel stood his ground to secure the series opening win.
Mantha (9-14-3) made 26 saves in the loss, as the Lakers outshot the Seawolves 29-24.
After a stretch of six games scoring one goal or less, the Lakers have now scored three goals in back-to-back victories. LSSU was also without a power-play goal during the six-game losing streak but have since answered with power-play tallies in consecutive games.
The loss drops the Seawolves into a tie for eighth place in the standings with the Alaska Nanooks. UAF picked up an upset victory late Friday night with a shorthanded goal with nine seconds remaining in regulation to beat Bowling Green, 2-1 at home.
The teams will wrap up the series with an 11:07 p.m. ET matchup on Saturday night. Next weekend the Lakers return home to face Northern Michigan to conclude the Cappo Cup rivalry series which is knotted at one-game apiece. LSSU will also be honoring the senior class, playing their final home game at Taffy Abel Arena, with a special ceremony following Saturday's game. Tickets can be purchased online at http://lssutickets.universitytickets.com, or by calling the Norris Center Ticket Office at (906) 635-2602.