Box Score ANCHORAGE - For the third straight season the Alaska Nanooks have won the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup. Alaska earned a 3-2 win over Alaska Anchorage and then retained the Governor's Cup thanks to a 1-0 shootout victory.
Tyler Morley scored the lone goal in the shootout, which decided the trophy's destination for the second consecutive year. Tayler Munson, Trevor Campbell and Josh Erickson all scored in the second period, to give Alaska the win in regulation.
Alaska (19-13-2, 14-12-2) ends the season as the hottest team in the country, winning its last five Western Collegiate Hockey Association games and going 7-0-1 since the beginning of February. During that eight game unbeaten stretch, the Nanooks swept Lake Superior State, Alabama Huntsville and Alaska Anchorage while also going 1-0-1 against then No. 1 Minnesota State. The Seawolves have now not won a Governor's Cup in six attempts and end the season 8-22-4 overall and 5-21-2. The one-goal game was the seventh straight between Alaska and Alaska Anchorage.
Said head coach Dallas Ferguson following the dramatic shootout win, "If you look at the season, the way these guys approached each week and each game was an excellent representation of themselves and the program. It's amazing and a true testament to the players' character. They have good families and are good kids who work hard and represent the program well and we put together a great season."
"I'm extremely proud of them," continued Ferguson. "The odds were against us coming into the weekend when we were down 2-0, but we found a way to win tight games. The last few weekends we have been tested but we got the job done. Then in the shootout, Tyler [Morley] makes a nice play and Sean [Cahill] shut them down."
Sean Cahill made 14 saves overall, including six in a tense third period, and two in the shootout.
The first 20 minutes was one-way traffic, with Alaska registering 20 shots on Olivier Mantha's net, but the Nanooks were unable to find the goal they deserved. Alaska had only registered 20 shots in a period once before this season, in a win against Lake Superior State.
Alaska got on the board first, early in the second period, as Munson scored his second goal of the weekend, shorthanded, as he took a pass from Brandon Morley in the high slot and buried it past Mantha.
The Nanooks looked to double their lead almost immediately, as a 2-on-1 opportunity fell to Marcus Basara, but his shot was saved by the glove a sprawling Mantha. Munson won the ensuing faceoff to Peter Krieger who fed Campbell whose drive from the point beat Mantha, doubling Alaska's advantage.
Munson, Krieger and Campbell combined for seven of Alaska's ten points for the weekend, as they were instrumental not only in this weekend, but throughout the season. This season, when Munson scored, the Nanooks finish 7-0-0 and 3-0-0 when he registered an assist. Alaska also finishes the year 8-0-0 when Krieger assisted and 2-0-1 when Campbell scored.
The Nanooks would add a third at the 14:37 mark of the second, when Josh Erickson scored after taking a pass from Alec Hajudkovich. Erickson ends the year with three goals and Hajudkovich finishes with nine asissts.
UAA would force its way back into the game, however, as back-to-back goals by Tad Kozun and Austin Azurdia, the latter with just five seconds left in the middle frame, would draw the score to 3-2.
In the third, it was Alaska who looked the more likely to score, but neither team was able to add to its total, forcing the Governor's Cup to a shootout.
Kozun shot first overall and his shot found the left post and stayed out for no goal. T. Morley was Alaska's first shooter, and he calmly drove hard to the net and beat Mantha on the forehand to give the Nanooks the advantage. Cahill would then deny Azurdia and Scott Allen to clinch the trophy for Alaska.
The Nanooks end the season fourth in the WCHA, 4-0-0 at the Sullivan Center and with 19 wins overall, the highest ever in a single-season under Ferguson.
