Dec. 2, 2007
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FAIRBANKS, AK- After claiming their first win of the season against Northern Michigan on Friday night, Alaska's hockey team could not repeat the feat in Saturday's rematch, falling 4-2 to the Wildcats in front of 3,401 in the Carlson Center.
The Nanooks (1-8-1, 1-6-1 CCHA) appeared to be on their way after Braden Walls opened the scoring with his second goal of the season, but three Wildcat goals in a one-minute and 54-second span in the second period sunk the Blue and Gold to their eighth loss of the season.
"For 57 [minutes] and 54 [seconds], I thought we played a pretty good hockey game," DelCastillo said afterwards. "But we are young, we still have to be patient, and these guys have to realize that you have to play 60 minutes in this league. That two minutes cost us an opportunity to win the game."
Clearly still soaring from their success on Friday, the Nanooks started the game with real urgency, quickly putting the Wildcat goal under siege. Within three minutes of the first face-off, Dustin Sather had a golden chance to put the Blue and Gold ahead. A clever reverse pass from Landon Novotney found Sather directly in front of the Northern Michigan goal. His attempted backhand, however, was blocked by an arriving defender and eventually covered by goaltender Stewart.
T.J Campbell was the next to try his luck, peppering Stewart with a couple of well-struck shots from the point to no avail. Jeff Penner also saw a rocket shot saved as the first period ended scoreless.
The Nanooks continued to threaten, however, and their hard work finally paid off with a second period goal, which, predictably, came on a power play. After Phil Fox had taken a tripping penalty, Braden Walls collected a loose puck in acres of space following a turnover from Erik Gustafsson. No Wildcat closed the junior right wing down as he skated in on goal, and Walls duly slotted his shot high into Stewart's net.
Unfortunately for the Blue and Gold, the Alaskas goal seemed to bring Northern Michigan to life, and, in a frantic two-minute span, the Wildcats had turned the one-goal deficit into a two-goal advantage, beating Wylie Rogers with three consecutive shots.
Like Alaska, a power-play opportunity proved to be the catalyst for the visitor's first goal: Mark Olver slotting into the Nanook net after Nathan Lawrence took a costly penalty for high-sticking midway through the second period.
No sooner had those Wildcats celebration died down than the visitors lit the lamp again when Rogers could only parry a low blast from Matt Butcher. Northern Michigan's Gregor Hanson reacted quickest to the rebound, and somehow squeezing his tight angled shot into the net from near the goal line.
Nick Sirota was the next to get into the act. Receiving the puck from Jared Brown, Siroky cut inside from the left wing, before sending a ferocious shot just inside Rogers' left-hand post, leaving the senior netminder with no chance.
The reeling Nanooks tried to find a way back into the game, and found a lifeline back into the game when Penner struck with just over 10 minutes to play. Collecting the puck from Trevor Hyatt, a smart diagonal pass from Ryan Muspratt found Penner streaking down the left wing. The freshman worked his way into shooting position with a couple of smart touches before firing a blast into the upper right-hand corner of the net to close the deficit to 3-2.
Sensing they could still recover a point, Alaska poured on the pressure. Novotney, Tyler Eckford both saw shots saved, and Dustin Sather fired a shot wide as the Carlson Center crowd sensed an equalizer.
One quick Northern Michigan counterattack, however, extinguished the Nanooks hopes, as the Wildcats found the decisive goal completely against the run of play. Winning the puck near center ice, T.J. Miller found Olver advancing on the Alaska goal. Two retreating defenders appeared to have cut off Olver's angle, but, doubling back after skating behind the net, the freshman found a way to force his shot past Chad Johnson on the second attempt from point blank range.
Afterwards, DelCastillo was left having to rue the two-minute spell that may have cost his team the game. "We went out there with a good effort and were playing hard. We just have to realize that we give up a goal, the other team is going to get fired up. That's momentum and we need to learn to deal with momentum."
The Nanooks now face a double dose of the Buckeye State, as they hit the road for a meeting with Miami (Ohio) next weekend before returning the Carlson Center to take on Ohio State on Dec. 14-15.
