Oct. 17, 2008
Box Score
by Jessica Hill
FAIRBANKS, AK - The Alaska Nanooks came out strong against the Mercyhurst Lakers Friday night in the second game of the Brice Alaska Goal Rush. The Blue and Gold proved rude hosts, blanking the Lakers, 5-0 in front of 2,584 fans.
The Nanooks introduced themselves by scoring two goals in the first period. Toyota of the Game and senior right wing Braden Walls was the first to score, and was assisted by Aaron Gens at 5:02; just 31 seconds after Mercyhurst's Brandon Coccimiglio received a penalty for hooking. Sophomore center Dustin Sather followed with an assist from Brandon Knelsen at 11:47, resulting in a 2-0 advantage headed into the first intermission.
Being up by two wasn't good enough the Nanooks though as freshman Justin Filzen struck shorthanded at 2:47 of the second stanza, with Derek Klassen and Dustin Molle setting up the play.
Senior captain and forward Adam Naglich made it 4-0 early in the third frame, as he powered the puck through traffic in front of the Mercyhurst net with the help of Walls, at 0:45. However, Walls gave the fans reason to get back on their feet in the final minute of the game, by scoring the final goal at 19:21. Sophomore Kevin Petovello tallied his second dish of the season.
Alaska's freshman goalie, Scott Greenham, repeated a rare feat in just his second collegiate start: he earned his second consecutive shut-out with a 25-save performance to earn second star honors. Greenham is the only goalie in Alaska's 30-year hockey history to earn back-to-back shut-outs in the first two games of the season. Mercyhurst's Matt Lundin turned away 42 Nanook shots to earn the game's third star.
The Nanooks out-shot the Lakers 47 to 25, went 2-for-10 with the man-advantage and successfully killed all six of Mercyhurst's power-play chances.
In the first game of the evening, the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves upended the Maine Black Bears, 3-1. The Black Bears got on the board at 3:35 of the first period, but the Seawolves knotted the score just minutes later with a Kevin Clark power-play marker. UAA went on and notched two unanswered goals (Craig Parkinson and Josh Lunden) on its way to victory for a 1-0 lead in the tournament standings.
More tournament play begins at 4:35 p.m. Saturday, when Mercyhurst (0-3) faces Alaska Anchorage (2-1). The Nanooks (2-0-1) are back in action at 7:35 p.m. against Maine (0-1) at the Carlson Center.
