[Box Score]
FAIRBANKS, AK - The No. 14/13 Alaska Nanooks snapped an 11-game winless streak against the No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish with a 3-1 victory Saturday night at the Carlson Center in front of a season-high crowd of 3,704 fans. Junior captain Derek Klassen netted two goals and sophomore goalie Scott Greenham made 26 saves in earn to split of the weekend series.
Both teams came out of the gate but skated to a 0-0 tie through the first 20 minutes of action. The Irish got the first opportunity of the game when rookie winger Chad Gehon went to the box for interference, but the Nanooks penalty-killing unit was up to the task, and held the Irish without a shot for that two-minute span. A little under three minutes later the Nanooks got their crack at the power play, but it fell by the wayside as they also came up without a shot in their lone opportunity.
Ben Ryan got the Irish on the board early in the second period with his third goal of the season. Just as sophomore center Justin Filzen's penalty expired, Ryan carried the puck through the neutral zone and beat Greenham, top corner, for the 1-0 lead.
Over a minute later the Irish were prized to score another goal but Greenham made a huge save on a wide open Calle Ridderwall to keep it to just a one goal deficit. Greenham also came back to make a huge save off a Nanook turnover shortly thereafter. Billy Maday picked the pocket of a Nanook defenseman and walked the puck from behind the net into the slot. Fortunately for Alaska, Greenham was in perfect position to make the stop.
The Nanooks got a late opportunity to tie the score when Maday went to the box at the 14:34 mark for interference. The Nanooks had sophomore defenseman Joe Sova wide open on the doorstep, but Irish goaltender Mike Johnson was there to make a spectacular pad save and preserve the lead after two periods of play.
Down but not out, the Blue and came out firing on all cylinders in the third period and managed a complete take over. Klassen got the party started with the equalizer and his second goal of the season at 2:33. Sova fired a shot from the point and the rebound landed in front of sophomore forward Carlo Finucci, whose shot was also stopped, but the rebound deflected up into the air, where Klassen's baseball style swing put the puck over UND's Mike Johnson and into the back of the net.
Rookie right wing Andy Taranto scored the eventual game winner when he took a pass from Sova off the boards and raced down the right wing and beat Johnson high, stick side, for the 2-1 lead at the 12:53 mark of the final frame.
Alaska battened down the hatches in the final minutes and was aided by strong goaltending from Greenham. With 14 seconds left Filzen won his ninth faceoff of the night, which was picked up by Knelsen and shoveled to Klassen, who deposited the puck into the empty net to seal the Nanooks first win over the Irish since the 2005-2006 season.
After surrendering two power-play goals to the Irish on Friday night the Nanooks were a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill in Saturday night's contest yielding only three shots. The Irish, however, outshot the Nanooks 27-24.
Greenham made 26 saves in net to pick up his sixth win of the season while Johnson stopped 21 for the Irish. The loss marked the first time this season that Johnson has suffered a loss after three straight victories.
The Nanooks return to action on November 13-14 when they travel to Bowling Green, OH to take on the Bowling Green University Falcons. Game times are for 3:05 p.m. AKT on Friday and 3:35 p.m. AKT on Saturday. Saturday's game will be televised live on KFXF Fox 7.
