Jan. 30, 2009
Box Score
Fairbanks, AK - Two first period goals paced the Alaska Nanooks to a 4-1 triumph over The Ohio State University Buckeyes Friday night in a Central Collegiate Hockey Association match-up at the Carlson Center in front of 3,190 fans.
Freshman forward Adam Cardwell got the scoring started at 5:59 of the first period as he netted his first career goal. Dion Knelsen fired a shot toward the Buckeyes net from the left circle that ricocheted off two OSU players and his brother Brandon's skate and then trickled to Cardwell just right of the crease, where he slotted the puck past a misplaced Dustin Carlson for a 1-0 lead.
Alaska would double up offensively before intermission of the stick of sophomore left wing Kevin Petovello. Defenseman Joe Sova fired the puck towards the net from just inside the blue line where Petovello opportunistically wristed the rebound past Carlson for a 2-0 lead heading into the first break.
The Nanooks and Buckeyes skated evenly in the second stanza as neither team could find the back of the net. OSU out shot the Nanooks 9-8, but the two teams combined were 0-5 with the man-advantage.
The third 20 minutes featured two goals in the first minute of play with the Nanooks’ Ryan Hohl scoring his seventh goal of the season just 13 seconds back into the action. Dion Knelsen made a clever move to beat his defender and fed the puck to Dustin Sather, who slid the puck across the crease to Hohl, where he fired it past Carlson to turn on the red light.
Ohio State would get one back just 45 seconds later to spoil Hobey Baker candidate Chad Johnson's shutout bid, with Kyle Reed netting his third goal of the season. But Alaska’s two goal cushion would be more than enough to earn a much needed conference win.
The Nanooks would score one more for good measure at 17:25 off the stick of first-year skater Ron Meyers. Petovello earned his second point of the night as he intercepted the puck from OSU’s Matt Bartkowski and found Ron Meyers 1-on-1 with Carlson. Meyers burried the puck in Carlson's five-hole to make it 4-1.
Alaska (12-9-6, 10-8-5-3 CCHA) earned two points to remain in third place in the CCHA standings. The win also gave them a four-point cushion over the Buckeyes (16-8-3, 9-7-3-3 CCHA), who are now tied with Nebraska-Omaha for fifth place.
