Box Score ANCHORAGE – Senior goaltender Sean Cahill stopped all 22 shots he faced helping Tayler Munson's first period goal stand up, as Alaska forced a decisive game four of the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup with a 1-0 victory over Alaska Anchorage on Friday night at the Sullivan Center.
Cahill records his second shutout of the season and first since another 1-0 victory, over Western Michigan on October 24. Munson scored his sixth goal of the season and first since January 3 in a win over Ferris State.
Alaska, who also earns its second 1-0 win in the Sullivan Center (Oct. 10 vs. #10 Wisconsin), improves to 18-13-12 overall and 13-12-2 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association with the triumph. Alaska Anchorage (8-21-4, 5-20-2 WCHA) was officially eliminated from playoff contention in the loss. Both Lake Superior State and Alabama Huntsville qualify in the final two spots. The Governor's Cup will now be decided tomorrow night. A win for the Nanooks would send the game to a shootout to determine the winners of the trophy.
"Whenever we play UAA we expect a close game and I liked the way our team played and fought," said head coach Dallas Ferguson. "It's a tough game to play when it's tight, but we had some big penalty kills and Sean came up big when he needed to. It was right down to the wire and it was great to get the win."
The Nanooks took the game to Alaska Anchorage early on with a flurry of chances thanks to an early power play. It was not until the 13:34 mark, however, that the Nanooks would finally make that pressure count.
The line of Munson, Peter Krieger and Marcus Basara generated a trio of chances on the power play, but were unable to beat Olivier Mantha. Krieger then rang one off the iron just as the man advantage was expiring, before the puck found its way to Krieger, whose scuffed shot was jammed home by Munson, just six seconds after the power play had ended.
"It was nice to see that power play unit get on the board, even though it was an even-strength goal," said Ferguson. "They have been working hard and created a lot of chances and deserved to score."
After the first period, Alaska had dominated the Seawolves with 11 shots to UAA's six.
The second period was a scrappy endeavor, with Alaska taking the game to Anchorage, territorially, but were unable to generate many chances as the Seawolves dug in deep and broke up the play, looking to hit on the counter. At the end of the second period, Alaska took a five minute major penalty that carried over to the third period.
Early in the third, Alaska had two shorthanded chances before UAA began to create several of their own. Both teams cancelled each other out for long passages in the frame but the Seawolves started to pile on the pressure late in the game. Cahill stayed calm however and made key saves, helped by his defense who were willing to throw themselves in front of every shot.
"Sean has been steady for us all year," commented Ferguson. "He's a stable and calm goalie and the guys have a lot of confidence playing in front of him."
The Nanooks penalty kill was also a huge factor in the game, as Alaska killed off all six of UAA's power plays, including the five minute major at the start of the third period.
Continued Ferguson, "Generally your goaltender is your best penalty killer and he made a couple big saves tonight that helped our special teams out. But overall I liked how the guys stayed up in the neutral zone and did not give them entry. It was a big penalty kill at the start of the third period and I thought we did a great job."
Alaska aims to claim its third straight Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup tomorrow night, at 7:07 p.m. at the Sullivan Center.
