Box Score
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Junior center
Nik Yaremchuk scored two goals and junior goalie
Steve Thompson turned aside 21 shots to lift the Alaska Nanooks to a 5-2 victory over the Mercyhurst Lakers Friday night at the Carlson Center in the second game of the Brice Alaska Goal Rush.
While, Yaremchuk was named the Player of the Game with the game-winning goal and an empty-net marker, senior forward
Carlo Finucci led all players offensively with a goal and two assists. Sophomore
Cody Kunyk also registered a multi-point night with two helpers.
Alaska rookie
Garrick Perry opened the scoring, when he robbed a Mercyhurst defenseman of the puck on the side of the cage deep in the Nanooks' offensive zone and slid it between the post and Max Strang's leg pad just three minutes and 43 seconds into the contest.
Finucci followed with his lone strike of the game at 7:56. Kunyk weaved his way through traffic from the right face-off circle through the slot, meanwhile holding Strang's undevided attention, before slipping the puck back door to a wide-open Finucci who took extra care to safely deliver the puck over the goal line past the Laker's sprawling goalie.
Later in the period, MC responded with a strike by Derek Elliott at 17:21 and the teams headed to the locker rooms for the first intermission with a 2-1 margin.
The second period saw the first period called of the game (and the evening), when MC's Grant Blakey assessed a hooking minor at 1:58. Alaska mustered four shots, but couldn't capitalize on their man-advantage. However, the momentum carried and Yaremchuk helped the home team regain a two-goal lead, when he made good on passes from Finucci and senior defenseman
Scott Enders at 8:01 to make it 3-1.
It took just under four minutes for the Blue and Gold to strike again. While skating short-handed, senior captain
Ron Meyers chased down a puck junior right wing
Andy Taranto had deflected out of Alaska's defensive zone. He skated in uncontested on Strang and slipped the puck five-hole to make it 4-1 at 11:40 of the middle frame.
The Lakers wouldn't go down without a fight though and they answered back at 16:28, when Daniel O'Donoghue's shot snuck past Thompson to make it 4-2 and the score would hold through the end of the period.
The third period saw both team's get power-play opportunities but neither could capitalize on their advantage. With the seconds of the final frame wanning, the Lakers pulled Strang in favor of an extra-attacker and looked to pull within one. However, the Nanooks did not relent and a solid defensive effort from the back-end through the neutral zone set up Yaremchuck's second score of the game at 19:51 of the third.
For the contest, Alaska outshot the Lakers, 43-23 and was 0-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
It was a special night for Thompson, who got his first collegiate and victory, while snapping senior goalie
Scott Greenham's streak of consecutive starts at 79. For the Lakers, Strang made 38 saves at the opposite end.
In the early game, Alaska Anchorage upset #15/16 Nebraska-Omaha with a 3-0 shutout over the Mavericks. The Seawolves got goals from Mark Pustin, Quinn Sproule and Matt Bailey, while goalie Rob Gunderson made 23 saves and notched his first collegiate point with an assist on the offensive end. For UNO, goalie Ryan Massa made 14 saves in relief of John Faulkner, who had 18 before getting pulled at 15:24 of the second period.
Tournament play continues Saturday with the Seawolves playing the Lakers at 4:05 p.m., followed by Alaska's game against UNO at 7:05 p.m.
