March 10, 2007
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Alaska Nanooks saw their season come to a close at the hands of No.1 seeded Notre Dame Saturday night, with a 3-1 loss in the second round Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoff series in front of a sold out crowd at the Joyce Center.
Sophomore forward Adam Naglich (Las Vegas, NV) scored the lone Alaska goal and junior netminder Wylie Rogers (Fairbanks, AK) had 30 saves, but it was too little to late, as the Irish completed the two-game sweep and eliminated the Nanooks from the CCHA tournament to advance to the semifinals at Joe Louis Arena, March 16-17.
One night after dropping five goals in the first period, Alaska came out of the gates putting the pressure on Notre Dame. Both teams got some scoring chances early, but a few penalties to the Nanooks late in the period gave the Irish the space they needed to take the early advantage.
Freshman defenseman Jordan Pernarowski (Dauphin, MB) was whistled for holding at the 17:13 mark, and the Irish needed only six seconds to make good on the opportunity. ND's Kevin Deeth fired a wristshot from the right point but Rogers was there to make the initial save. He was unable to control the rebound, however, and the puck fell on the stick of Ryan Thang, who lifted it top shelf at 17:19 of the first period.
Just over a minute later Notre Dame doubled its lead on its second power-play chance of the period. With junior forward Ryan Muspratt (Calgary, AB) sitting in the penalty box, Irish defenseman Wes O'Neill beat Rogers with a one-timer from the right point at 18:42. The Irish carried a 12-9 shots lead into the first intermission.
Coming back in the second stanza, the Nanooks took it up a notch on both ends. Their hard worked finally paid off just over halfway through the period.
After stopping a one-on-one short-handed breakaway, junior forward Kyle Greentree (Victoria, BC) carried the puck from the defensive end of the ice into the Nanooks' offensive zone where he fed freshman forward Dion Knelsen (Three Hills, AB) at the left post. Knelsen tried to poke the puck through David Brown's five-hole, but he closed the gap in time. The rebound, however, found its way to Naglich's stick tape and he lifted it up and over Brown's left shoulder to make it 2-1 with his sixth goal of the season. It was the Nanooks first power-play goal of the weekend.
The Irish regained their two-goal lead at 14:47, while the teams were skating four-on-four, when Deeth tipped a shot by Tom Sawatske past Rogers.
Alaska finished the contest 1 for 6 and the Irish finished 2 for 6. The Irish outshot the Nanooks 33-22, including a 7-2 margin in the third period.
The Nanooks finish the season 11-22-6 overall after coming up short in the second round of the CCHA tournament for the second straight year. Alaska finished the regular-season in 11th place in the conference standings with a 7-16-5 mark.
The Alaska Nanooks End of Season Banquet will be held Saturday, April 14, at the Gold Room in the Fairbanks Westmark Hotel starting at 6:00 p.m. AST. The team will recognize its four-member senior class of Lucas Burnett (Rossland, BC), Curtis Fraser (Surrey, BC), Nathan Fornataro (Calgary, AB) and Jordan Emmerson (Abbotsford, BC) and hand out the team awards. For more in formation please call 907-479-3391.
