Coming off an idle week, the Seawolves need to get back up to speed, and then some, when they open their Western Collegiate Hockey Association schedule on the road Friday night.
UAA (1-3-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) faces No. 20-ranked Bemidji State (4-2-0, 4-0-0 WCHA) in Minnesota in a matchup that features a visitor that has struggled mightily to score goals and a host that surrenders little defensively.
The Seawolves' mere 0.75 goals per game ranks last in Division I and the Beavers' meager 1.67 goals-allowed per game ranks as the fourth-stingiest number nationally. Moreover, UAA's power play has converted once in 23 chances (4.3 percent efficiency) to land next-to-last nationally and will encounter a Bemidji State penalty-killing crew that burns off 93.3 percent of opposing man advantages to rate fifth in the country.
What UAA does have going for it is the 1-0 victory over Canisius it seized at UAF's Brice Alaska Goal Rush tournament in Fairbanks immediately prior to its idle week. That snapped a three-game losing streak to open the season, which began with a 6-0 home loss to Minnesota, a 4-1 home loss to rival UAF and a 3-1 loss to Omaha in Fairbanks.
"It was important," Seawolves coach Matt Thomas said of the defeat of Canisius. "What I liked is we played much better that weekend than the first weekend."
In Fairbanks, the Seawolves got their goaltending in order. Senior transfer Rasmus Reijola stopped 30 of 33 Omaha shots in his UAA debut and junior Olivier Mantha, after a rough opening weekend, made 22 saves against Canisius to bank his third career shutout.
"It was a good week of goaltending for us," Thomas said. "It showed us Rasmus will give us a chance to win, and Manny, after losing his net, bounced back."
The Beavers have lost two straight, but that skid comes with a caveat — they fell 3-2 and 5-4 at No. 1-ranked North Dakota last week. Bemidji opened the season with a WCHA home sweep of Bowling Green and followed that with a WCHA road sweep at Northern Michigan.
Bemidji State junior Michael Bitzer backstopped a pair of 2-0 wins over the Wildcats.
Seawolves notes
UAA senior winger Dylan Hubbs suffered a sprained knee in the Canisius game and did not make the trip to Minnesota. He's likely to also miss the Seawolves' home series next week against Alabama-Huntsville, Thomas said.
Sophomore winger Cam Amantea, who missed most of last season with shoulder surgery and has yet to play this season after having a screw removed from his shoulder, can't catch a break. He came down with the flu this week and did not travel with the team.
UAA
1-3-0 overall, 0-0-0 WCHA
at
Bemidji State
4-2-0, 4-0-0 WCHA
Friday and Saturday, 4:07 p.m. ADT