Feb. 24, 2007
Box Score
By Danny Martin
Staff Writer
Published February 25, 2007
Being down 5-0 more than halfway through the third period wasn't the Senior Night that the Alaska Nanooks had hoped for Lucas Burnett, Jordan Emmerson, Curtis Fraser and Nathan Fornataro.
But those same four seniors made sure that Saturday night's regular season-ending loss to the University of Nebraska-Omaha wasn't a shutout.
Three of the four seniors contributed points to the Nanooks' offensive revival late in the third period of the 5-3 loss in the Carlson Center to their perpetual scheduling clustermate in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.
Burnett had an assist on each of the goals by freshman defenseman Jordan Pernarowski, sophomore left wing Trevor Hyatt and Fraser, a center and assistant captain. Fornataro, a defenseman, also helped on Fraser's game-ending, 18th marker of the season.
"I just told the seniors it was their last period," Nanooks head coach Tavis MacMillan said of a talk with his team in their locker room during the second intermission, "and I thought they kind of put it on their shoulders and they delivered.
"I thought our seniors in the third period were by far our best players."
It wasn't the best regular season for the Nanooks, as they ended in 11th place in the 12-team league at 7-16-5 league and 9-19-6 overall. Alaska will face the sixth-place Western Michigan Broncos in Kalamazoo, Mich., for a best-of-3, first-round playoff series, starting Friday.
The Mavericks, led by junior left wing Brandon Scero's goal and two assists, clinched fifth place at 13-11-4 and 16-14-8, respectively, and will play host to the 12th-place Bowling Green State (Ohio) Falcons this coming weekend.
Mavericks head coach Mike Kemp may have been the least surprised person in the Carlson Center to see the Nanooks score three times unanswered in the third period, including two short-handed markers on the same power play.
"That was deja vu, I've seen that too many times," said Kemp, whose program has won only three times in 18 games at the Carlson Center, including Friday night's 4-3 victory.
While Burnett was saying good-bye to the Carlson Center, he greeted three teammates with some timely passes, starting on a Mavericks power play that arrived with a boarding minor by Nanooks freshman right wing Brandon Knelsen at 11:37 of the third .
Burnett sent a 40-foot, behind-the-back pass from the right point to Pernarowski in the slot and the rookie blue liner uncorked a slap shot which beat Nebraska-Omaha goaltender Jeremie Dupont high to the glove side at 11:58.
"That's the only time you'll see me make a 40-foot, behind-the-back pass," Burnett said with a laugh. "I drove wide and I heard Penner screaming and yelling, and he just hammered it. It was a nice play."
Burnett fed Hyatt on a 2-on-1 and the sophomore right wing rifled in a wrist shot at 13:36.
"I knew at that time we had to get a jump because we were down by four goals," he said. "At the point, I jumped out of the zone early and the puck happen to come to me and Trev was in perfect position."
It really was deja vu, because wings Kyle Greentree and Brandon Knelsen scored on one Mavericks power play during the Nanooks' 4-3 victory at the Qwest Center in Omaha on Nov. 4.
"I wasn't panicking at that time," Kemp said about the Nanooks' awakening on Saturday, "but I thought that any time you can give up two shorties on the same power play, it's just frustrating because our power play had done a good job of controlling the play and moving the puck. It was real frustrating for us, but I thought our guys settled down and just kept playing."
With an appropriate ending to their final games at the Carlson Center, Fornataro passed to Fraser on a power play and the center drilled in his 18th of the season from the right circle with 31.6 seconds left in the contest.
"I'm usually not standing up on the point (on the power play)," said Fraser, "but Fonzie made a great pass to me and Fonzie and I have always had great chemistry on that exact play. If there is one shot I want in a game, that's the one. I get to wind up at the top of the circle and Fonzie gets to put it in my wheelhouse."
The Nanooks, for nearly the first 48 minutes of the game, didn't get the shots they wanted. They really didn't get too many shots in the contest, generating just 19 to the Mavericks' 34.
"I've said from the start of the year that's the best skating team in our league," MacMillan said of the Mavericks. "They have the best set of forwards, 1 through 12.
"Give them time and space, they can make plays, and they did it early and often tonight."
The Nanooks denied two power plays in the first period while missing on their own two chances. Alaska also trailed 2-0 while getting outshot 14-5.
Sophomore right wing Dan Charleston, for the second straight night, provided the game's first goal.
The Nanooks defense was moving in the slot and near the right-wing boards when Charleston, with a pass from Chugiak High School graduate and Mavericks center Bill Bagron, skated open into the left circle and beat Nanooks goaltender Wylie Rogers at 6:15 with a slap shot that rocked the water bottle on the top of the net.
The Mavericks cashed in on a power play in the second period that carried over from Fraser's interference minor with 33 seconds left in the opening period.
Senior left wing Scott Parse moved within four points of 200 career points and moved the Mavericks to a 3-0 lead at 26 seconds into the second period, one-timing in Scero's pass along the goal line near the right corner.
Rogers was given the rest of the night off at 4:07, as he was replaced by freshman Erik Largen, who had only played in three periods this season -- in the second and third periods of an 8-4 win over Air Force on Oct. 14 at the Carlson Center and in the third period of a 5-2 home loss to Michigan on Oct. 20.
Rogers is scheduled to start Friday at Western Michigan.
Largen, after stopping a series of shots, gave up his second goal of the season, and the Mavericks' fourth of the night, at 6:46, as Scero got past the forechecking attempt of Nanooks defenseman T.J. Campbell and popped in a backhand off Largen's stick.
Bryan Marshall had several Nanooks fans heading for the exits 19 seconds into the third period, as he collected Jeric Agosta's backhand centering pass and banged it past Largen at the left side of the crease.
"We capitalized on our opportunities early," Kemp said of his team's 5-0 lead.
"I thought the real key goal for us was that power-play goal (by Parse) in the first minute of the second period. We didn't give Alaska any time to come out and get any kind of life, and that could have happened early. They could have come out and got that goal and got some enthusiasm back in their game."
