The UAA hockey team skated to a 2-2 tie with the nation’s 13th-ranked team Saturday night at the Seawolf Sports Complex.
Bemidji State scored a goal in the second overtime period, when teams skate 3-on-3, to secure two points in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
UAA earned the third point, a precious prize that keeps the Seawolves in the hunt for the WCHA playoff spot.
Alex Frye, a freshman forward, scored both goals for the Seawolves, who bounced back nicely from a 4-1 loss Friday to the Beavers.
Frye’s first goal tied the game 1-1 late in the second period. His second came on the power play early in the third period and lifted UAA to a 2-1 lead.
Bemidji State, the WCHA’s second-place team, tied it 2-2 with a short-handed goal with about three minutes left in the game.
The teams skated through a scoreless five-minute overtime to force the second OT, when teams go 3-on-3 and each team is guaranteed at least one point in the league standings. Bemidji State (19-8-5 overall, 19-4-3 WCHA) ended things with a goal from Tommy Muck.
The Seawolves moved to 4-21-7 overall and 4-16-6 in the WCHA, where they are clinging to 8th place and the final playoff spot.
They have 21 points and a four-point lead over 9th-place Ferris State, which lost a two-game series to Bowling Green this weekend.
UAA will head to Fairbanks for its final two games of the regular-season Friday and Saturday against the Nanooks. UAF, which had this weekend off, is tied for fourth place in the WCHA with Bowling Green; both teams trail third-place Northern Michigan by four points.
The series against Bemidji State marked the final home games for six UAA seniors — Luc Brown of Napanee, Ontario; Nolan Nicholas of Thunder Bay, Ontario; Tomi Hiekkavirta of Helsinki, Finland; Corey Renwick of Nanoose Bay, British Columbia; Carmine Buono of Burnaby, British Columbia; and David Trinkberger of Landshut, Germany.