[Box Score
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NOTRE DAME, IN - The Alaska Nanooks scored two goals in the first 4:32 of the game and added two more in the third period to earn a series split with a 4-1 triumph over the eighth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish Saturday night at the Joyce Center.
With the win the Blue and Gold improve to 10-8-4 overall and is back to .500 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings with a 7-7-4-2 record in the league and fifth place ranking.
Alaska got on the scoreboard at 2:49 as
Scott Enders scored his first of the season on a shot from the slot as the Nanooks caught the Irish in a line change.
Colton Beck fed
Kevin Petovello in the neutral zone and the Alaska captain carried it into the Irish zone before leaving the puck for Enders. The junior defenseman beat Notre Dame's Mike Johnson for the 1-0 lead.
The Irish were called for too many men on the ice at 3:37 and the Nanooks made them pay for the mistake with a power-play goal by Jarett Granberg on a deflection in front of Johnson.
Nanook blueliner Joe Sova carried the puck to center where he left it for Granberg who carried it into the Notre Dame zone where he left the puck for Aaron Gens at the right point. Gens fired a shot that was blocked and ended back on Gens's stick. His second shot was waist high and Granberg was parked in front and deflected it past Johnson for his fifth goal and the eventual game winner at 4:23.
Notre Dame got back into the game, cutting the lead in half at 8:56 of the second period when Mike Voran converted a rebound to the left of Scott Greenham to make it 2-1.
The Nanooks took advantage of another deflection to make it 3-1 just 1:25 into the third period with junior Carlo Finucci getting his sixth goal of the season and second game-winner of the year.
Gens again set the play in motion, getting his second assist when he flipped a wrist shot that looked like it was going wide to the right of Johnson. Finucci was parked atop the crease, where he got his stick on the puck and deflected it over Johnson to make it 3-1.
The Irish would go without a power play until the 14:41 mark of the third when Sova was given a major penalty for a high hit on Notre Dame's Jeff Costello that gave the Irish a five-minute power play.
The Nanooks took a play from Notre Dame's playbook as they would score a short-handed goal with Yaremchuk putting the game away, scoring on a breakaway down a man at the 15:41 mark for his sixth goal of the year and the 4-1 lead.
For the game Alaska out shot Notre Dame by a 39-28 margin. Greenham made 27 saves to Johnson's 35. The Nanooks were 1-for-6 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.
Alaska continues its road trek with a two-game series against the Michigan Wolverines next weekend at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor.
