The Alaska Nanooks hockey team fell 6-3 to the Stonehill Skyhawks on Saturday, Nov. 7, in Boston, Massachusetts, dropping their record to 2-8-0 on the season.
Jackson Anderson opened the scoring just 2:26 into the game by beating Stonehill netminder Linards Lipskis. Anthony Galante answered for the Skyhawks roughly six minutes later, and Cole Melady added a goal with 2:51 remaining in the first to give Stonehill a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.
The Skyhawks extended their lead when Zachary Aben scored on a power play with just 2.5 seconds remaining in the second period. Joel Lehtinen pulled Alaska back within one early in the third period against his former team while on the power play.
Melady scored his second goal of the night for Stonehill to make it 4-2, before Lukas Klemm tallied his first goal in blue and gold at 10:44 of the third to narrow the deficit to 4-3. Alaska twice pulled within a goal in the third period before two empty-net goals by JJ Grainda sealed the 6-3 final score.
Alaska outshot Stonehill 28-25 over the course of the game, posting eight shots in the first period, six in the second, and 14 in the third. Tyler Shea made 19 saves in net for the Nanooks.
Taisetsu Ushio recorded two assists following his first-career point and goal earned in Friday’s win against Stonehill. Carson Reed, Nathan Rickey, Rylen Roersma, and Max Rud also contributed assists on the three Nanooks goals.
Max Rud led the defensive effort with three of Alaska’s nine blocked shots. On faceoffs, the Nanooks won 27 of 65 attempts, with Joel Lehtinen going eight for 18 and Rylen Roersma winning eight of 20.
Following a bye week, the Nanooks return home to host Alaska Anchorage on Nov. 20-21 to open the Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup series.
