ANCHORAGE, Alaska ? Alaska Anchorage scored three second period goals to snap a 2-2 tie, and the Seawolves added an empty netter in a 6-2 win over the third-ranked North Dakota men's hockey team on Friday.
The loss snapped a four-game unbeaten streak for the Sioux and dropped UND's record to 6-4-1 overall and 4-2-1 in the WCHA. UAA improved to 5-4-2 overall and 3-4-0 in the WCHA.
North Dakota fell to third place in the WCHA behind Minnesota and Denver, which are tied for first in the league with 10 points.
The six goals were the most UND has given up to Alaska Anchorage since Jan. 13, 1996, in a 7-6 UND win over the Seawolves in Grand Forks, N.D. Since then, the Sioux had gone 29 games against Alaska Anchorage without giving up as many as six goals in a game.
With the score tied 2-2 after one period, UAA began play in the second period with 48 seconds remaining on a power play.
It took the Seawolves just 34 seconds to capitalize, as UAA freshman Paul Crowder scored with 14 seconds left on the power play, jamming it in on the short side past Sioux goalie Anthony Grieco (Fr., Brampton, Ontario).
The Seawolves made it 4-2 when Josh Lunden scored his second goal of the game at 2:40.
UND head coach Dave Hakstol pulled Grieco at that point, replacing him with sophomore Aaron Walski (Fargo, N.D.), who was making his college debut.
UAA scored on Walski at 18:16 on a power play goal by Justin Bourne to make it 5-2, and that's how the second period ended. Bourne's tally was the only goal Walski gave up in 35:47 of action. Walski made 11 saves in the game.
The three second period goals raised the total number of goals UND has allowed in the second period this season to 21 in 11 games.
With UND trailing 5-2 in the third, Hakstol pulled Walski for an extra skater on two occasions, the first coming with just under five minutes remaining and UND on the power play and the second coming with less than two minutes to play. The Sioux could not capitalize, though, and UAA's Jay Beagle scored an empty net goal with 44 seconds left to seal the win.
In the first period, UND had two leads, but the Seawolves came back to tie both times.
UND's Matt Watkins (So., Aylesbury, Saskatchewan) opened the scoring at 3:38 with his fourth goal of the season.
The Seawolves tied it at 5:31 on a wrist shot by Lunden that beat Grieco up high.
The Sioux regained the lead at 9:48 when defenseman Taylor Chorney (So., Hastings, Minn.) blasted a slap shot from inside the blue line that was tipped in by sophomore Jonathan Toews (Winnipeg, Manitoba). It was Toews' fourth goal of the season and first in six games.
But UAA once again answered, with Chris Tarkir picking up a rebound in front and firing it past Grieco at 14:10.
North Dakota outshot Alaska Anchorage 30-26 in the game. Grieco stopped nine shots and allowed four goals in 22:40 of playing time.
The Sioux were 0-of-5 on the power play, while Alaska Anchorage was 2-of-5 on the power play.
The teams will conclude their series on Saturday at 7:07 p.m.
NOTES: UND captain Chris Porter (Sr., Thunder Bay, Ontario) picked up an assist in the game, extending his career-best point-scoring streak to seven games ... The loss was the third in UND's past five games in Anchorage.
Contact: Dan Benson
