The puck takes odd bounces, as the Seawolves discovered to their delight Sunday in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
Despite a team performance that wasn't nearly as sharp as the one it generated in a loss at Lake Superior State on Saturday, UAA nonetheless bagged a 3-1 win over the Lakers on Sunday that snapped its season-worst, five-game winless streak.
Behind 34 saves from sophomore Olivier Mantha and goals from Connor Wright, Anthony Conti and Austin Azurdia, the Seawolves rid themselves of their 0-4-1 funk in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The victory in Houghton came after Saturday's 4-2 loss in a game UAA led late before surrendering a power-play goal – painfully, with just 10 seconds left on a major penalty – and empty-netter.
"We played twice as good (Saturday), and found a way to win today,'' UAA coach Matt Thomas said. "We just needed it, and needed it bad, and I'm proud of the guys.''
The only downside to UAA's victory was the loss of senior defenseman Austin Sevlarud, the team's captain. Sevalrud left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury, said Thomas, who was uncertain about the extent of the injury.
UAA (9-10-3, 6-8-2 WCHA) moved into an eighth-place tie with UAF in the 10-team WCHA heading into a series at Bowling Green to wrap a four-game league trip. UAA, which has four league games in hand on UAF, is two points behind seventh-place Lake Superior State. Only the top eight teams in the conference make the playoffs.
"This keeps us in the mix,'' Thomas said.
With UAA leading 2-1 and killing a slashing penalty against Wright with less than five minutes to play, Mantha somehow got a piece of Gage Torrel's back-door bid.
Azurdia gave the Seawolves a cushion with two minutes to go when he drove wide and backhanded a centering pass that glanced off the inside of the leg pad of Lakers goalie Nick Kossoff (19 saves) and in for a 3-1 cushion.
UAA prospered thanks to secondary scoring.
Wright has played just six games this season, but he racked his third goal of the season in the first period to offset an early goal by Lake Superior's Owen Headrick and forge a 1-1 tie.
Sophomore winger Anthony Conti cleaned up a rebound early in the second period to halt his 12-game goal drought and Azurdia, who assisted on Wright's goal, stopped his 17-game goal drought.
The Lakers outshot the Seawolves, 35-22.
Still, the Seawolves improved to 4-3-1 this season in WCHA games played in the Lower 48 after going 0-12-0 in such games last season.
Seawolves notes
Senior center Blake Tatchell's assist on Azurdia's goal was his 97th career point.
Conti's goal was his fifth, tying Tatchell for second on the team behind Tad Kozun (10 goals). Conti owns 5-3—8 totals in 20 games after going 4-6—10 in 32 games as a freshman last season.
Mantha raised his season save percentage to .913.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockeyblog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
UAA 1 1 1 3
LSS 1 0 0 1
First Period – 1, LSS, Headrick 4, 2:14; 2, UAA, Wright 3 (Azurdia, Van Allen), 14:18. Penalties -- None.
Second Period – 3, UAA, Conti 5 (MacTavish, Luedtke), 2:05. Penalties – Schmitt, LSS (hooking), 2:47; Anholt, UAA (tripping), 3:15; Cuglietta, LSS (elbowing), 4:01; Duwe, UAA (tripping), 6:13; Hubbs, UAA (tripping), 13:15; UAA bench minor, served by Hubbs (too many men), 20:00.
Third Period – 4, UAA, Azurdia 2 (Tatchell), 18:04. Penalties – Nenadal, LSS (hooking), 4:28; Nellis, LSS (slashing), 12:39; Wright, UAA (slashing), 15:36.
Shots on goal – UAA 6-6-10—22. LSS 13-9-13—35.
Power-play Opportunities – UAA 0 of 4. LSS 0 of 4.
Goalies – UAA, Mantha, 8-9-3 (35 shots-34 saves). LSS, Kossoff, (3-5-1) (22 shots-19 saves).
A – 1,539 (4,000). T – 2:10.
Referees – Michael Elam, Kevin Langseth. Assistant referees – Jamie Grace, Frank Hempel.