|
Seawolf skaters spirited in Denver
split
On the surface, it may look like an uneventful weekend.
The University of Alaska Anchorage entered the weekend series
tied with the University of Denver for sixth place in the
Western Collegiate Hockey Association. They left in the
exact same place.
But what happened in between was anything but uneventful.
A 2-1 loss on Friday was marred by what head coach John
Hill considers a bogus call in overtime.
Saturday’s dramatic 4-goal third period turned a
3-1 deficit into a 5-3 victory, saving what would have been
a disappointing trip to Colorado.
All in all, UAA came out still one game under .500 at
9-10-3 and 6-9-3 in the WCHA.
Friday, UAA clung to a 1-0 lead, courtesy of Charlie Kronshnabel,
at 7:41 of the first period thanks to another strong outing
from UAA goalie Chris King. King stonewalled the Pioneers
until forward Lukas Dora knotted the score at 1-1, 13:14
into the final period.
The game headed into overtime, starting fireworks.
First, UAA’s Brent McMann came close to pulling
off a breakaway before being hauled down by a Pioneer defender
and no penalty was called. Then, Seawolf Mark Smith was
charged with a penalty on a controversial tangle-up with
Denver’s Connor James at 1:48 of overtime, setting
up a Pioneer power play.
Only six seconds later, James banged in the game winner
for Denver, sending Hill straight to the telephone to complain
to the WCHA. There was nothing he could really do and UAA
had to go into Saturday’s game without either the
valuable one point from a tie, or two for a win.
The disappointment showed Saturday as only Chris Fournier’s
goal would put a dent into a 3-1 Pioneer lead going into
the third period.
That was before UAA came alive to do something it hadn’t
in the last 21 games: tally four goals in a period.
Curtis Glencross started the barrage with his team-leading
12th goal, followed 10 minutes later by Vladimir Novak’s
first of the season to tie the score at 3-3. The first goal
of Nick Lowe’s career was a huge one, giving UAA the
lead for good at 13:36. Lowe added an empty netter as time
expired.
UAA’s Kevin Reiter finished with 47 saves.
Western Washington whipped by Seawolf
women
The University of Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball
squad is bouncing back from a tough overtime loss on the
road. The perfect elixir for their woes came in the form
of a 78-70 upset of Western Washington: their first road
win. The win came two nights after a 71-66 overtime setback
at Seattle University.
Seawolves Kamie Jo Massey and Tanya Nizich came through
big from the outside in the win over the Vikings, combining
to nail 8 of 12 three-pointers. Massey, who hit 2 of 3 treys,
had a monster effort with a career-high 27 points and 11
rebounds with five assists while playing the entire game.
Nizich scored a career-high 24 points including 6 of 9
from behind the arc and also went the distance.
The Seawolves, whose starters combined to play 184 of
a possible 200 minutes, got to the line and hit 24 of 30
to help best the Vikings, the third-ranked team in the NCAA
Division II West Region. Junior Amber Nasby and senior Mindy
Mendenhall chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively. Western,
who won 13 straight at home, got 20 points from Jodi Gerald
in the losing effort.
UAA almost nabbed its first road victory at Seattle but
came up short despite solid performances from Nasby and
Nizich. The Seawolves couldn’t overcome 25 turnovers
and three starters fouling out as Redhawk Thresia Busch
scored 10 of her game-high 21 in overtime, placing the game
out of reach.
Nasby dropped in 18 points and Nizich drilled 4 of 7 treys,
finishing with 16 points. Massey was her normal self with
a double-double (12 points, 12 boards) to go with five steals.
Mendenhall added 14 points but led the Seawolves with seven
turnovers.
Hansen shines in Utah mountains
Last week it was Mandy Kaempf. This week, with Kaempf sidelined
by illness, it was Sarah Hansen who came up big for the
University of Alaska Anchorage ski team.
Hansen had a career weekend of racing for the UAA ski
team at the Utah Invitational, including a first-place finish
in the 10Kilometer freestyle race that followed a third-place
finish in the 5K-classical the day before. The junior from
Wasilla became the first American woman to win a Rocky Mountain
Intercollegiate Ski Association race since 2001.
Hansen’s win, the third for a Seawolf woman in four
Nordic races this season, helped UAA to a fifth-place finish
for the team title, 46 points shy of fourth-place Colorado.
New Mexico captured the team title with Utah in second and
Denver in third.
Hansen was the top American finisher in the 5K-classical
with a time of 16 minutes and 3.5 seconds. No other Seawolf
broke the top 10. In the 10K-freestyle, Hansen barely beat
Colorado’s Jana Rehemaa by 1.6 seconds in 32:39.5.
Nicole DeYong (32:58.9) finished strong in eighth place.
UAA was also aided by the strong skiing of Eric Strabel
and Zach Violett on the men’s side. Violett’s
third-place effort in the 10K-classical made him the first
American to finish with a time of 28:40.1. Teammate Strabel
rounded out the top 10 in 29:22.3. Strabel found the top
10 again with an eighth-place effort in 42:21.7, while Violett
just missed with an eleventh-place time of 42:33.0.
Final Team Results:
1. New Mexico, 570
2. Utah, 563
3. Denver, 523
4. Colorado, 457.5
5. UAA, 411.5
6. Nevada, 317
7. Montana State, 292.5
8. Western State, 222.5
9. Whitman, 177
10. Boise State, 106.5.
Men’s 10K-Classic:
1. Henning Dybendal, Utah, 27:43.4
2. Erland Hoff, DU, 28:29.7
3. Zach Violett, UAA, 28:40.1
4. Geir Endre Rogn, UNM, 28:51.2
5. Daniel Sonntag, Utah, 29:01.6
Other UAA Results: 10. Eric Strabel, UAA, 29:22.3; 18. Brent
Knight, 30:33.5; 25. Dylan Watts, 31:59.4; 30. Casey Fagerquist,
32:31.3; 38. Paul Schauer, 34:44.8.
Men’s 15K-Freestyle:
1. Daniel Sonntag, Utah, 40:55.1
2. Erland Hoff, DU, 41:04.5
3. Henning Dybendal, Utah, 41:17.2
4. Erling Christiansen, CU, 41:18.3
5. Jan Vykoukal, Nevada, 41:19.8
Other UAA Results: 8. Eric Strabel, UAA, 42:21.7; 11. Zach
Violett, 42:33.0; 16. Brent Knight, 43:35.0; 23. 45:33.1;
26. Dylan Watts, 45:35.8; 27. Paul Schauer, 46:06.1.
Women’s 5K-Classic:
1. Martina Stursova, UNM, 15:53.8
2. Lena Jensen, UNM, 15:54.9
3. Sarah Hansen, UAA, 16:03.5
4. Jana Rehemaa, CU, 16:08.3
5. Jenny Hansson, Utah, 16:19.0
Other UAA Results: 16. Nicole DeYong, 17:11.3; 27. Susanne
Kumpulainen, 18:28.5.
Women’s 10K-Freestyle:
1. Sarah Hansen, UAA, 32:39.5
2. Jana Rehemaa, CU, 32:41.1
3. Sandra Gredig, Utah, 32:45.0
4. Martina Stursova, UNM, 32:46.9
5. Andrea Roberts, UNM, 32:51.6
|
