Kevin Reiter stopped all 28 shots he saw, and freshman Brett Arcand-Kootenay made his first career goal at Alaska-Anchorage a memorable one, scoring the game’s only marker as the Seawolves beat UMass-Lowell 1-0 Saturday evening in the championship of the Nye Frontier Classic at the Sullivan Arena.
The win for UAA (3-1-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) breaks a 13-year drought for the Seawolves in their own tournament. It was the first shutout of the River Hawks since February 22, 2002, when UML lost to New Hampshire 3-0, while it was UAA’s first shutout of an opponent in 138 contests.
“Anchorage played an incredibly inspired game, a spectacular effort,” said UML head coach Blaise MacDonald. “They were tough to contain and came at us very hard. I thought that we matched their emotion and their effort on many occasions.”
The River Hawks looked to have the advantage in the early minutes, outshooting the Seawolves 6-1. Alaska Anchorage stemmed the tide, and although both teams had quality opportunities in the first frame, the period ended scoreless.
In the second the ice tilted in favor of the Seawolves, outshooting UML 6-1 early on. UAA looked primed to take the lead with odd-man opportunities, but sophomore netminder Chris Davidson was equal to the task, keeping the game scoreless.
UAA finally found a chink in the armor of Davidson late in the second period. Alone in the slot, Lee Green rifled a shot at net that deflected off Arcand-Kootenay in front and past Davidson, giving the Seawolves a 1-0 lead at 17:15.
Alaska-Anchorage carried the lead into the second intermission, outshooting the River Hawks in the second period 13-8 for a 19-18 advantage overall.
Arcand-Kootenay’s goal proved to be the game-winner, as UML pulled its netminder in the waning minutes of the game looking for the equalizer, but was unable to convert with the extra attacker.
“It was sort of a shootout at the O.K. Corral in terms of the fact that they had some great chances, we had some great chances,” said MacDonald. “Our goalie made some huge saves, their goalie made some huge saves, and it came down to Anchorage scoring one big-time goal. Watching the film, it was an unbelievable play that they made, and that was the only goal of the game.”
Davidson made 25 saves in net for the River Hawks, stopping a total of 57 shots on the weekend. Neither team took advantage of the power play, as UML went 0-for-3 with the man-advantage and the Seawolves were 0-for-4.
The All-Tournament Team consisted of sophomore Ben Walter and senior Jerramie Domish of UMass-Lowell, Mike Polidor and Shane Saum of Air Force, and Kevin Reiter and Mark Smith of Alaska Anchorage. Dallas Steward of UAA took home Most Outstanding Player honors.
