FAIRBANKS - In the first Blue/Gold Scrimmage in the Patty Ice Arena since the 2019-20 season, the Nanooks Gold Team defeated the Blue Team 2-1 in OT. They used an early overtime goal from
Brady Risk to put away the Blue squad after late heroics from Team Blue.
It started early for Team Gold as 5:54 into the first
Matteo Pecchia played a puck on the opposing blue line to
Brady Risk. After entering the offensive zone, Risk managed to get a pass off to
Cade Neilson, despite some contact and the freshman skated into the slot, firing a wrist shot past
Matt Radomsky. Blue had a shot to answer with 15:00 left on the clock as
Matt Koethe was awarded a penalty shot on a Gold penalty, but his shot was saved. Blue's next opportunity came with 4:30 left on the clock. A loose puck squirted into the slot and Koethe, once again, had an opportunity. His shot went just wide and Gold stayed in front 1-0. With 1:55 left, Gold had a chance to extend their lead off a turnover, but Pecchia missed on a shot just outside the crease. The 1-0 lead held going into halftime of the two-period scrimmage.
Between periods,
Matt Koethe won the fastest skater competition and
Daniel Allin won the goalie shootout, allowing only one goal on numerous attempts by fellow Nanook teammates.
Out of the break, Blue had another opportunity, being awarded a penalty shot only 43 seconds in.
Braden Birnie was denied by
Matt Radomsky. Later on in the second, Koethe had another solid look but Radomsky made the stop. Immediately after the look, Gold came back down ice and had a solid look themselves;
Anton Rubtsov fired a shot from the left of the slot after a drop pass by
Chase Dubois but
Lassi Lehti smothered the shot, icing the puck and keeping Blue within one goal. Two minutes later,
Arvils Bergmanis put a shot just wide.
After back-and-forth hockey for three minutes,
Connor Mylymok found himself with a nice look through traffic for Team Blue. The sophomore forward fired a shot from the point but through the bodies, the shot was saved and iced.
Eventually, Blue began to put constant pressure on Gold.
Quinn Rudrud had a shot stopped with 4:02 on the clock, Koethe had another breakaway look stopped with 3:09 on the clock and another Blue penalty shot was stopped with 2:12 left. Team Blue was forced to take a timeout with 1:23 left in regulation. Out of the break, Blue had their moment. Off of the draw,
Garrett Pyke made a pass to Koethe to the right of the net, Koethe took the shot and
Payton Matsui was in the right place at the right time. The sophomore tipped the puck into the back of the net, tying the game at 1-1 with 1:17 left on the clock. Gold had two more solid looks before the final horn sounded as
Harrison Israels and
Arvils Bergmanis had their shots denied, sending the game to OT.
The two teams went into overtime, but it did not take long for Gold to claim victory in the 3v3 period. After shutting the door on a Blue possession, Gold decided to pull their goalie only 30 seconds into the period. With the extra skater, Gold brought the puck up on a rush and
Matteo Pecchia made a cross crease pass to a cutting
Brady Risk who put the puck in the back of the net for the winner.
Alaska is back in action on Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Carlson Center when they host Simon Fraser for an Exhibition game at 7:07 p.m.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks hockey team, follow @NanooksHockey on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Hockey team page on Facebook.
