University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

Box Score

FAIRBANKS, AK - The Alaska Nanooks used three third-period goals and another solid goaltending performance from sophomore Scott Greenham (Addison, ON) to secure a 4-2 win over Robert Morris University in the second game of the Brice Goal Rush on Friday night. Jarret Granberg (Foremost, Alberta) scored his first two goals of the season as the Nanooks outshot the Colonials 49-18 for the game.

 

The teams skated out to a scoreless first period, which saw the Nanooks outshoot the Colonials 15-8, while holding a 36-13 advantage in attempted shots.

 

The Nanooks (3-0-0) turned up the defensive pressure in the second period as they held Robert Morris (0-1-0) without a shot for the first 6:23 of the stanza . The Nanooks wasted no time as Derek Klassen (Whitehorse, YT) picked up his first goal of the season on a feed from Brandon Knelsen (Three Hills, AB)and Nik Yaremchuk (St. Albert, AB) to put the Nanooks ahead 1-0 only a minute into the second period.

The Colonials battled back and scored the equalizer at the 10:10 mark, when Cody Crichton beat Greenham with a backdoor wrap around shot. A little less than a minute and a half later Alaska regained the momentum when the Nanooks intercepted a Robert Morris pass that created a 3-on-2 break. Carlo Finucci (Burnaby, BC) passed to Dustin Sather (Wanham, AB) down the middle, who found Granberg to put the puck into the empty net and restore the Nanooks one-goal lead.

 

The Blue and Gold would also strike again before the end of the middle frame, when Robert Morris' Cody Crichton picked up a penalty for tripping. The Nanooks made the Colonials pay quickly as Andy Taranto (Woodridge, IL) tickled the twine only eight seconds into the power play to double the margin.

 

Granberg struck again in the third period with assistance from Finucci and Kaare Odegard (Red Deer, Alberta) to stretch the Nanooks lead to 4-1. Denny Urban closed out the scoring on the evening when he crashed the net and slid a puck past Greenham with 53 seconds remaining for the 4-2 final.

 

Granberg finished the night with two goals, while Finucci picked up two assists. Alaska was 1-of-8 on their power play and managed 15 shots on those opportunities. The special teams were also a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, extending the three-game season total to 10-of-10.

 

Alaska finished the game outshooting Robert Morris 49-18 which included 19 third-period shots: the most in a game since Feb. 14, 2009 against Western Michigan.

The Nanooks attempted an amazing 91 shots on the night while holding Robert Morris to only 35 total attempts. Alaska was also very strong in the faceoff circle as they won 40 of the 65 draws (62%) with Derek Klassen winning 10 of his 13 attempts (77%).

 

Robert Morris was led by Urban and Crichton who each tallied a goal. Brooks Ostergard was very strong in goal pushing aside 45 of the shots he was faced with. The Colonials finished the game taking 10 penalties for a total of 28 minutes.

Tournament action resumes tomorrow at 3:05 p.m. AKT, when Alaska Anchorage battles Robert Morris. The Nanooks close out the tournament at 6:35 p.m. AKT, when they play host to the Rensselaer Engineers. You can check all the action from the Brice Alaksa Goal Rush by visiting the homepage here.