ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Alaska Nanooks men's hockey team earned a trip to the United Collegiate Hockey Cup championship game on Saturday, March 7 after a thrilling tie and shootout win. Alaska is now 14-15-3 on the season and can bring home the first-ever UCHC championship.

How it Happened
The Nanooks struck early and often in the first period. Misha Danylov needed just 1:15 to get the Blue and Gold on the board. 2:05 later, it was 2-0 Nanooks as Peyton Platter extended the lead on an unassisted goal. Stonehill got one back 8:31 into the first to make it a 2-1 game after the first period. Joseph Grainda scored Stonehill's first goal. 

Similar to the first period, Alaska scored quickly into the second as Alexander Malinowski scored on a quick slash to the front of the net. The assist came from Dylan Sydor and extended the Nanooks' lead back to two at 3-1 2:41 into the middle stanza. Stonehill stormed back to post three-straight goals and take a 4-3 lead. Their first came 6:16 into the second on a David Posma goal. Entering the third period, Alaska still had the advantage, leading 3-2, but just 44 seconds into the third while on the power play, the Skyhawks tied the game at 3-3 on a Pat Murphy goal. 11:28 into the third, Stonehill took a 4-3 lead on a Joel Lehtinen goal. After pulling netminder Lassi Lehti, the Nanooks had one last gasp in them. With 7.7 seconds left on the clock, and a faceoff in the offensive zone, the Nanooks won the draw and put a shot on net before the rest of the lineup crashed the crease. 

Braden Birnie, for the second time in three weeks, found the back of the net in the closing seconds of regulation. He poked the puck across the line with 1.2 seconds left in regulation sending the Nanooks and Skyhawks to overtime and spoiling the Stonehill upset. In the overtime period, there were just four shots-on-goal, with Alaska recording three of them. Neither side found the winner, leading to a decisive shootout. Both sides were 0-3 in their initial rounds. After a Stonehill miss in the fourth round, Tommy Cronin stepped up and made a shifty move to beat Skyhawks netminder Connor Androlewicz for the win. 

Inside the Numbers

• Alaska recorded seven points tonight, four goals and just three assists. Michael Citara ended the night with two assists and Dylan Sydor picked up an assist. 
• The Nanooks outshot Stonehill 38-37. The two sides split the dot 36-36. Chase Dafoe led the Nanooks winning 16 of his 26 bouts tonight. Peyton Platter won 13 of 23 to follow Dafoe. 
• Both sides had two power plays. Stonehill went 1-2 while the Nanooks went 0-2. 
• Lassi Lehti made 33 saves tonight in the tie/shootout victory. He made 13 in the first period, 10 in the second, nine in the third and one in the overtime period. 
• The Nanooks blocked 11 shots. Jackson Anderson and Adam Cardona both led the way with two each. 

What's Next
The Nanooks will play their final game of the year tomorrow against Lindenwood at 4 p.m. AKST. They'll face the Lions for the third time this season and look for the first-ever UCHC Championship. Fans in Fairbanks are invited to Lat65 Brewing Co. for a championship watch party. 

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