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UAA unable to manage comeback in loss to Denver
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The Seawolves offensive struggles continued as they fell 3-2 to the 2nd ranked Denver Pioneers on Friday, November 6th at the Sullivan Arena.
Although the Seawolves were able to out-shoot their opponent for the second consecutive game 24-19, goals were hard to come by in a game in which the Seawolves once again were unable to convert a power play oppurtunity. The Seawolves went 0-5 with the man advantage while the Pioneers were able to capitalize on one of their 7 chances.
After a scoreless first period, junior Sean WIles scored his first goal of the season at 6:38 of the 2nd period to give the Seawolves the lead. The lead lasted only 50 seconds because a rebound left by goalie Jon Olthuis bounced off a Seawolf defenseman and into the net giving Denver forward Jesse Martin the unassisted short-handed goal. Denver then went on to add two more goals by Rhett Rakhshani to give the Pioneers a commanding 3-1 lead. Rakhshani, a senior who currently leads the Pioneers with 11 points, scored his first goal of the night on the power play at 15:46 of the 2nd period. His second came at 3:51 of the 3rd period at even strength. Large 6' 5" forward Joe Colborne, the 16th overall selection in the first round of the 2008 draft by the Boston Bruins also had two points in the game.
To the Seawolves credit, they never stopped working to try and mount a comeback against the favored Pioneers. UAA out-shot Denver 10-5 in the 3rd period but were unable to score until junior defenseman Luka Vidmar scored with 36 seconds remaining on a wrist shot through traffic from the point after Olthuis had been pulled for the extra attacker.
Freshman goalie Adam Murray played well in net for the Pioneers in front of his hometown crowd stopping 22 of 24 shots against. Murray is currently replacing starting goalie, junior Marc Cheverie, who suffered a severe laceration to his calf last weekend against Minnesota State Mankato. Cheverie currently leads the WCHA in both GAA and save percentage. Senior Jon Olthuis got the start for the Seawolves and managed to make 16 saves in the game.
In local interest, freshman defenseman and Anchorage grown William Wrenn came away with 1 shot on goal, an even +/-, and 4 penalty minutes for the Pioneers.
The loss leaves the Seawolves at 3-6 on the season and 1-4 in the WCHA. With Michigan Tech's loss at home to North Dakota the two teams remain in a 9th place tie in the conference. Denver now goes to 6-2-1 and an unbeaten 4-0-1 in the WCHA. With Colorado College's loss at home to Minnesota-Duluth the Pioneers are now alone atop the WCHA and the only remaining unbeaten team.
The Seawolves and the Pioneers will go at it again tomarrow night, November 6th, at the Sullivan Arena. Game time 7:07 PM.
