Dec. 20, 2008
Box Score
No. 18 Alaska powered to a 6-3 victory over conference foe Western Michigan on Friday night at the Carlson Center behind scoring three goals in the first and three goals in the third to move their unbeaten streak to seven games.
A WMU hooking penalty got the Blue and Gold started as Alaska would jump on the Bronco’s 1-0 at the 7:17 mark in the first period as Dustin Sather (Wanham, AB) scored his third goal of the season. Sather’s goal came from a ricochet off Western Michigan’s netminder Riley Gill. Dion Knelsen (Three Hills, AB) and Steve Vanoosten (Surrey, BC) were credited with the assists.
The Nanooks would then get goals just 37 seconds apart to grab a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Ryan Hohl (Northville, MI) netted his fourth of the season at 16:10 as a turnover from WMU defender P.J Kavaya in his defensive zone left him defending a two-on-one with Holh and Ron Meyers (Prince Albert, SK). Meyers took Kavaya and the puck away from the net then slotted it to a wide open Hohl in front of the cage leaving Gill no chance and giving the Nanooks a 2-0 advantage.
Knelsen created the third goal for the Nanooks as he made a move on his defender, which then found himself with a scoring chance but muffed the shot which caught WMU’s goalie of guard. The puck trickled to Joe Sova who tapped it in for his first goal of the season. Carlos Finucci (Burnaby, BC) tallied his second assist of the season on the goal.
However, Western Michigan would seize the momentum in the second twenty minutes by netting two goals to cut the Nanooks lead to 3-2. Both of their goals came from deflections off slap shots. Western Michigan capitalized on a man advantage for their first goal, something most opponents don’t normally do as Alaska has the best penalty killing percentage in the conference. The Broncos' second goal and Tyler Ludwig’s third of the season came with just three seconds left before the second stanza expired and gave WMU hopes for a come-from-behind victory.
But the Bronco’s bid for a win would go begging as the Nanooks buried three more goals in the final frame.
Branden Walls (Calgery, AB) would add two power-play goals and Hohl would tally his second of the game as the Nanooks would gather a 6-3 vicotry. Meyers and Knelsen both finished with two assists, Walls and Hohl both finished with two goals.
The nine wins is a new season career-high for goal keeper Chad Johnson (Calgary, AB). Also, the Blue and Gold are now 7-0-1 when scoring the first goal.
No. 18 Alaska is now 9-4-4 (7-3-3-2 CCHA) while the Bronco’s continue to slide as they are 2-11-4 (1-8-4-1 CCHA). The two teams meet again tomorrow night at the Carlson Center. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m.
