Sports

Overtime agony: Northern Michigan 3, UAA 2

Utterly outplayed everywhere but in net, the Seawolves probably deserved the disappointment they endured Saturday night: A crushing overtime defeat at Northern Michigan University.

After UAA tied the game with an extra-attacker goal in the waning seconds of regulation, Northern Michigan struck with 11 ticks left in overtime to seize a 3-2 victory and a sweep of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association series.

Sami Salminen's deflection strike touched off a celebration inside the Berry Events Center.

And so the Seawolves depart Marquette, Michigan, just as they arrived -- last in the 10-team WCHA.

They wasted another fine performance by freshman goaltender Olivier Mantha (34 saves), who kept them from being completely embarrassed.

The Seawolves (7-13-4, 4-12-2 WCHA) did not make up any ground on Alabama-Huntsville, which was punked 11-1 at Michigan Tech, or on idle Lake Superior State. Those teams are tied for ninth place, two points ahead of UAA.

In a typical season, the top eight finishers in the league qualify for the WCHA playoffs. But UAF is ineligible because of past NCAA violations, which means only one other team will fail to make the postseason. At the moment, UAA looks very much like that unfortunate team, especially given its tough schedule down the stretch, beginning with a series next week at league-leading Minnesota State-Mankato.

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One night after falling 5-3 at Northern Michigan -- the Wildcats (11-9-6, 8-8-4 WCHA) outscored the Seawolves 3-1 in the third period Friday -- the Seawolves' response in the series finale was more whimper than bang.

The Wildcats, who never trailed, outshot the Seawolves, 37-13. UAA's shot production -- well, actually lack thereof -- matched its season low, which came in a 1-0 home loss to Northern Michigan in November.

Remarkably, especially in a game that lasted nearly the maximum 65 minutes, only eight of UAA's 16 skaters managed so much as a shot on goal. And three players -- goal scorer Brett Cameron (four shots), Blake Tatchell (two) and Tad Kozun (2) -- accounted for more than half of the Seawolves' shots.

"I'm at a loss for words, really,'' texted UAA bench boss Matt Thomas, an effusive man. "To have that be our pushback effort after (Friday) night is very disappointing.

"To squander the point is potentially devastating.''

Penalty-prone UAA -- its average of 16.4 penalty minutes per game led the nation entering the evening -- afforded the Wildcats seven power plays. That Wildcats bounty included a prolonged two-man advantage that bridged the second and third periods. UAA senior winger Scott Allen took a major boarding penalty late in the second period and defenseman Derek Docken was soon busted for holding.

UAA has been whistled for 10 major penalties in just 24 games this season, compared to four majors for their opponents.

The Seawolves killed the Wildcats' two-man advantage, but Northern Michigan's Mitch Jones scored on the one-man advantage to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead two minutes into the third period.

The teams were knotted 1-1 after two periods. Robbie Payne scored deep into the first period for the Wildcats, but Cameron countered on the power play in the final minute of the period. Through 40 minutes, Northern Michigan owned a 20-6 bulge in shots. The Wildcats outshot the Seawolves 16-2 in the second period and piled on for a 16-5 cushion in the third.

Even so, the Seawolves managed to get to overtime when defenseman Austin Coldwell scored an extra-attacker goal on Michael Doan with 11 seconds left.

Overtime in the WCHA is particularly cruel, though. It is the rare league where an overtime loser does not merit a point in the standings.

And so it is UAA remains in the league basement, two points below the field and out of playoff position.

"We have our work cut out for us moving forward if we want to extend our season,'' Thomas said.

Seawolves notes

Tatchell's assist on Cameron's first-period goal extended his point streak to five games. He owns 1-5—6 totals in that span.

With his goal and an assist on Coldwell's goal, Cameron registered the 14th multiple-point game of his career.

Freshman winger Austin Azurdia's goal and assist in Friday's loss marked his first multiple-point game.

After bagging a WCHA sweep on the road at UAF two weeks ago, the Seawolves fell back into their road doldrums -- they are 2-8-0 in WCHA road games.

Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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