SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Nanooks hockey team picked up a huge sweep of the RV/No. 20-ranked Augustana Vikings on Saturday, Feb. 22. With the win, Alaska moves to 12-12-6 on the year and takes the season series against Augie 3-1.

How it Happened
Chase Dafoe got the scoring started for the Nanooks early into the Saturday contest. The forward needed only 3:08 to make it 1-0 Nanooks, striking while on the power play. Kyle Gaffney and Broten Sabo picked up the assists on the first goal of the net. The Nanooks took the 1-0 lead into the second before Matt Rickard struck. The defenseman fired a shot from the left and beat Augustana netminder Christian Manz. Peyton Platter earned the lone assist on the Rickard goal. Hunter Bischoff got one back for the Vikings, making it a 2-1 game 16:53 into the second; the Nanooks took the lead into the third. 3:23 into the third, Augustana found the back of the net again, tying the game at 2-2.

Five minutes later, Cade Ahrenholz took business into his own hands, scoring a pair of goals in just under four minutes. His first came 8:03 into the third, giving the Nanooks the lead back at 3-2. 3:54 later, he found twine again, making it 4-2 Nanooks 11:57 into the third. 

The Vikings found a third goal, 14:39 into the third stanza, but Peyton Platter shut the door with an unassisted, short-handed, empty-net goal 19:22.2 into the third, making it a 5-3 Nanooks win. 

Inside the Numbers

• Both sides picked up a power-play goal in game two. The Nanooks went 1-5 on the man-advantage. The defense killed nine of 10 power-play opportunities Augie had tonight. 
• Nine Nanooks scored a point tonight. Three had multi-point games with Cade Ahrenholz scoring two goals, Peyton Platter scoring a goal and dishing an assist and Matt Rickard doing the same, tallying a goal and an assist.
• Lassi Lehti made 25 saves in the victory. On the weekend, he made 44 saves and had a .916 save percentage in the sweep. 
• He made 14 saves in the third after making 11 saves in the first two periods combined. 
• Chase Dafoe dominated the faceoff circle tonight, winning 15 of 23 bouts. The Nanooks won 34 of 59 bouts as a team. 
• Alaska blocked 14 shots. Adam Cardona led the way with four blocked shots. 

What's to Come
The Nanooks finish the 2024-25 season next weekend at LIU. They face the Sharks on Feb. 28-March 1. 

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