In each of Olivier Mantha's first two seasons, his UAA teammates voted him the club's Most Valuable Player.
Pencil him in for a third straight honor. Scratch that – you can use a pen because Mantha should be a lock for MVP.
Alas, for the Seawolves, he is a goaltender, so he cannot score goals, and lack of scoring punch is the their greatest shortcoming, as Saturday night's 3-0 Western Collegiate Hockey Association loss at Ferris State in Michigan emphasized yet again.
Mantha kept UAA within striking distance throughout with 50 saves – in November, he racked a career-high 53 saves in a loss at Penn State – but the Seawolves were fed a bagel for the seventh time this season. The seven shutouts against are one shy of the program-record eight endured by the 2002-03 team, which won its season opener and endured a 35-game winless streak (0-28-7) the rest of the way.
Bulldogs sophomore Darren Smith made 23 saves for his second career shutout.
The Seawolves managed just 11 shots on goal Friday in a 2-1 loss to Ferris State in which Mantha stopped 37 shots. He snuffed 87 of 91 shots (.956 save percentage) on the weekend – Ferris State's third goal Saturday was an empty-net strike – to raise his season save percentage to .915 from .910.
Flu-ridden UAA (7-19-6, 6-14-6 WCHA) midway through Saturday's game was being outshot 32-3 and trailed 2-0. Combined with their three shots on goal in the final two periods Saturday, that marked a 70-minute stretch in which the Seawolves were outshot 59-6. The Seawolves had seven power plays in that span.
The weekend losses put last-place UAA's playoff hopes on life support in the 10-team league, where only the top eight finishers make the postseason. The Seawolves trail eighth-place Northern Michigan by five points with two games left and ninth-place Alabama-Huntsville by four points.
So, basically, the Seawolves must sweep rival UAF in the Governor's Cup, the regular-season finale series in Anchorage, and hope Northern Michigan and Alabama-Huntsville stumble big-time on the final weekend,.,
Ferris State (12-17-4, 11-12-3 WCHA) moved into a tie for fifth place.
The Bulldogs used two Corey Mackin goals in the opening 15 minutes to put the Seawolves in a hole. Mackin finished off a 3-on-1 for his first goal and scored from between the circles for his second. Gerald Mayhew delivered the principal assist on both goals. Mantha had little chance on either of them and was screened by a teammate on the second one.
UAA on Friday and Saturday nights entertains UAF in Games 3 and 4 of the annual Governor's Cup. The teams split Games 1 and 2 in early December in Fairbanks, where UAA won 3-2 and UAF answered with a 3-1 victory.
UAA 0 0 0 0
Ferris State 2 0 1 3
First Period – 1, FSU, Mackin 12 (Mayhew, VanWormer), 7:40; 2, FSU, Mackin 13 (Mayhew), 15:23. Penalties – Dorantes, FSU (hooking), 4:44; Pefley, FSU (hooking), 8:12; Roberts, UAA (hooking), 11:23.
Second Period — None. Penalties – Hubbs, UAA (hooking), :29; UAA bench minor, served by Azurdia (too many men), 7:39; Andrew, FSU (tripping), 10:17.
Third Period – 3, FSU, Maloney 10 (McDonald), 19:26 (en). Penalties – Dorantes, FSU (face-off interference), :28; Wright, UAA (contact to head-elbowing), 6:22; Tackett, FSU (boarding), 12:14; Brown, UAA .
Shots on goal – UAA 3-8-12—23. Ferris State 21-18-14—53.
Power-play Opportunities – UAA 0 of 4. Ferris State 0 of 4.
Goalies – UAA, Mantha, 7-17-4 (52 shots-50 saves). Ferris State, Smith, 3-14-1 (23 shots-23 saves).
A – 2,490 (2,493). T – 2:16.
Referees – Chris Perrault, Kevin Langseth. Assistant referees – Jamie Grace, Paul Tunison.