No. 20 hockey nipped 4-2 by LSSU, Lakers earn series sweep
February 19, 2013
Jamie Foland
907-474-6807
Lake Superior State built a two-goal advantage in the third and staved off Alaska's attempt at a rally as it took a 4-2 Central Collegiate Hockey Association win Saturday night at Taffy Abel Arena.
The Lakers (15-16-1, 10-13-1-1 CCHA) earned the series sweep and downed the 20th-ranked Nanooks (13-13-4, 11-11-3-1 CCHA) for the third time in four contests this season.
LSSU had four different goal scorers as Bryce Schmitt, Domenic Monardo, Matt Bruneteau and Stephen Perfetto all lit the lamp for the home crowd. Earning the victory between the pipes for the Lakers was Kevin Kapalka as he made 33 saves on 35 shots faced to even his season mark at 10-10.
Alaska saw goals come from junior forward Cody Kunyk (Sherwood Park, Alberta/Business administration) and freshman Nolan Huysmans (Ponoka, Alberta/Business administration), while senior forward Andy Taranto (Woodridge, Ill./Communication) and freshman defender Colton Parayko (St. Albert, Alberta/Business administration) each had one helper.
Senior Steve Thompson (Anchorage, Alaska/Psychology) dropped his season record to 2-3 in net for the Nanooks after making 24 saves on 27 shots.
The Nanooks once again outshot the Lakers on net, by a 35-28 margin. Alaska was 1-for-7 on the power play while Lake State went 0-for-3 with a man advantage.
Lake Superior got on the board early, striking the back of the net 3:19 into the game on an unassisted tally by Schmitt.
Alaska evened the score at 1-1 with a power play score by Kunyk, his eighth goal of the season, at 12:44 of the first.
LSSU regained the lead 23 ticks into the second when Monardo got the puck past Thompson for his third goal of the weekend and 16th of the year. The advantage doubled at 3-1 six minutes into the third when Bruneteau scored for the home team.
Alaska cut the deficit in half when Huysmans found the net 9:31 into the final stanza for the fourth time in his rookie season.
The Lakers put the game away with 52 seconds remaining with an empty netter.
The Nanooks return home to host Michigan State in their final CCHA regular-season series. The puck drops at 7:05 both Friday and Saturday and the games can be heard on KCBF 820 AM.