The Chargers needed a win in the worst way Saturday, and they got it thanks to a local.

Huntsville native Josh Kestner scored two goals, and Matt Larose made 28 saves, to lead UAH to a 3-1 victory over Alaska and a series split. It was UAH’s first win over Alaska since 1992, ending a streak of 11 straight victories for the Nanooks in the series.

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The win pulled the Chargers (5-15-2 overall, 3-11-2 WCHA) back to four points behind Alaska (6-12-4, 4-10-4) for eighth place in the WCHA standings. Also tied for eighth was Alaska Anchorage, which lost to Bemidji State 5-1 late Saturday night.

UAH still has a ways to go to get back into playoff contention, but any win is a good win at this point as the Chargers have won only twice in the last 16 games. And it takes the sting of the frustrating 6-3 loss to the Nanooks on Friday.

Alaska came out with pressure to start the game, but the Chargers took control with two first-period goals.

The first came at the 3:09 mark, as Cody Marooney intercepted the puck at center ice, pushed it into Alaska territory and beat Nanook goaltender Davis Jones high and stick-side. It was Marooney’s fourth goal of the season, unassisted.

The second came on the power play at 6:59. Austin Vieth was called for cross-checking and Zach Frye was called for boarding Chad Brears (who was down for a couple of minutes and had to be escorted off the ice). Just after Vieth’s penalty expired, Kestner in the slot deflected a Kurt Gosselin bullet down the middle past Jones for a 2-0 Charger lead. Kestner’s third goal of the season was assisted by Gosselin and Cam Knight.

At that point, UAH had an 8-1 shots on goal advantage.

Alaska would get a couple of power play chances of their own, but their best chance at a goal was a gift from a UAH turnover during another Charger power play. John Mullally picked off the puck and took it on a breakaway. Larose came out to meet Mullally on the left side, leaving the net wide open, but Mullally fired it wide, and it remained 2-0 after the first period.

Both teams had chances to score in an up-and-down second period, but no goals were to be had.

Larose put the stops on a partial breakaway shot by Alec Hajdukovic to keep Alaska off the board, and made another body save on Marcus Basara in the first six minutes of the frame. The Nanooks had one goal waved off after the officials quickly whistled them for players in the crease.

At the other end, Jones was coming up big for UAF, particularly during a UAH power play late in the period to keep it a two-goal game after two.

Kestner struck again in the third to make it 3-0. Hans Gorowsky intercepted a pass at center ice, tipping it to Kestner, who drove it to the slot and beat Jones for his second goal of the game with 14:34 left.

The Nanooks made Larose work in the third, firing 14 shots on goal. Colton Sparrow finally broke the shutout when he beat Larose from the slot with 1:59 to go, ending Larose’s bid for this second shutout of the season and UAH’s first home shutout since 2003.

Larose finished with 28 saves for his third win of the season. Alaska outshot the Chargers 29-27.

UAH heads to Big Rapids, Mich., next weekend to take on Ferris State. The Chargers return home on Feb. 12 and 13 to face Minnesota State.

It started with anticipation, excitement, and success. It ended with another bitter defeat, much like the Chargers’ 2015-16 season as a whole.

Alaska scored four unanswered goals, including three in the third period, to beat UAH 6-3 on Friday in front of season-high crowd of 3,521 and a national TV audience.

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The Chargers (4-15-2 overall, 2-11-2 WCHA) are deeper in last place, now six points behind the Nanooks (6-11-4 overall, 4-9-4 WCHA) and further back from one of the eight conference playoff spots. UAH needs points in a hurry, starting with the rematch coming Saturday night at 7, to get back into contention.

The success came early with two UAH goals in the first 11:35. Chad Brears notched his eighth goal of the season, assisted by Max McHugh and Brennan Saulnier, at the 4:11 mark to get the crowd fired up.

Then McHugh scored on the power play — a rocket from near the blue line — for his fifth tally of the season and a 2-0 Charger lead. Brandon Parker and Brears got the assists.

Alaska would cut the lead at 2-1 with a power-play goal of their own, courtesy of the WCHA’s leading scorer, Tyler Morley, who was left all alone in front of UAH goalie Carmine Guerriero. The goal came with 4:35 left in the first period.

The Nanooks tied the game at 2-2 with a shorthanded goal off a turnover by Josh Atkinson at the 6:19 mark of the second.

Brears regained the lead just 1:22 later with his second goal of the game, helped by Kurt Gosselin and McHugh.

Marcus Basara tied the game at 3-3 at 10:23 of the second on another power play goal. The Nanooks went 2-for-3 on the power play after UAH had killed 39 of its last 40 shorthanded situations.

Video courtesy Penalty Box Radio

That’s how it stood after 40 minutes, setting the stage for an exciting third period. However, it all went Alaska’s way right from the start, and UAH never recovered.

Alec Hajdukovich gave the Nanooks their first lead of the game just 11 seconds in. Peter Krieger made it 5-3 at the 10:39 mark. And for the last straw, John Mullally scored Alaska’s third goal of the frame on only eight shots on goal.

It was not a good night for Guerriero, who although was screened plenty, allowed six goals on 29 shots.

Davis Jones got the win in net for Alaska, stopping 28 of 31 Charger shots on goal.

It was one of those “what can you do” series, where you try your best against a superior opponent and hope you get enough bounces to pull an upset. The Chargers played well, but not enough bounces came against the second-ranked team in the country.

Carmine Guerriero stopped another 34 shots, but UAH again could not solve a stalwart defense and a white-hot goaltender in a 4-1 loss at No. 2 North Dakota on Saturday.

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Richard Buri got a fortunate bounce off a North Dakota defenseman on the only goal for the Chargers (4-14-2), who were shut out 1-0 on Friday.

North Dakota (18-2-2) scored just 25 seconds in, as defenseman Paul LaDue’s blast from the right point beat Guerriero for the first lead of the game.

The Fighting Hawks dominated possession and continued to fire pucks at Guerriero and the junior from Montreal continued to make tough saves — 18 in the first period alone.

UAH only had five shots in the opening period, but made that fifth one tied the game — albeit unintentionally — with 12.5 seconds remaining. Buri attempted a centering pass, and the puck was redirected by the stick of UND defenseman Keaton Thompson and squeezed between UND goalie Cam Johnson and the post. Buri was credited with the second goal of his career.

The goal ended a North Dakota record consecutive scoreless streak by Johnson. It was his first goal allowed in 298 minutes and 25 seconds. Johnson finished with 14 saves on the night.

The Chargers opened the second period with some extended offensive zone time, and had two power plays in the first half of the period.

But as the second of those power plays was about to expire, the Hawks retook the lead on a highlight-reel goal by their leading scorer, Drake Caggiula. Caggiula passed the puck around UAH defenseman Cody Champagne and snuck the puck past Guerriero with 11:44 remaining in the second. It was Caggiula’s 14th goal of the season.

North Dakota had a chance to extend their lead on the power play early in the third period, but UAH killed the penalty in part because of five blocked shots by Brandon Carlson.

The Fighting Hawks would finally seal the game late. With a faceoff in the UND zone with 2:02 left, Guerriero was pulled for an extra attacker, but Bryn Chyzyk was able to take the puck down and score the empty-netter to make it 3-1 with 1:52 remaining.

Tucker Poolman made it 4-1 on a blast with Guerriero back in the net with 48.5 seconds to go.

UAH was outshot 38-15. The Chargers were 37-26 on faceoffs.

The Chargers resume WCHA play next Friday and Saturday at the Von Braun Center against Alaska.

Carmine Guerriero did all he could — as he tends to do in these types of games — but UAH lost at No. 2 North Dakota on Friday by a 1-0 score.

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Bryn Chyzyk’s second-period goal was the only tally for the Fighting Hawks (17-2-2), but it was Cam Johnson who was their star. The goaltender posted his fourth straight shutout and broke North Dakota’s 62-year record for consecutive scoreless streak, now having not allowed a goal in 278 minutes and 38 seconds.

It was the first time the Chargers (4-13-2) have been shut out this season, but they didn’t go without a battle down to the final minutes. And Guerriero stood tall to keep UAH in striking distance, making 38 saves for his fifth 30-plus save game this season.

Guerriero got warmed up in the first 20 seconds of the contest. He made a couple of close saves on Johnny Simonson, and needed to go side to side to deny Coltyn Sanderson with 3:39 left in the period. That’s when Brandon Parker was called for holding, and Guerriero needed to make three saves in the ensuing North Dakota power play. He finished with 13 saves in the frame.

On the other end, Johnson had to make a couple of saves to keep history in his sights. The best Charger scoring chance came when Brent Fletcher centered Jetlan Houcher, who was stopped by Johnson with about five minutes left in the first. Johnson made seven saves in the period.

The Chargers got their first power play at 2:54 of the second period, but UND turned it into two shorthanded opportunities. Top Fighting Hawks scorer Drake Craggiula was all alone receiving a lob pass but Guerriero made the save, then Simonson was stymied on a shorthanded break.

North Dakota then got an extended two-man advantage after penalties on Hans Gorowsky and Richard Buri 13 seconds apart. Right as Gorowsky’s penalty expired, Chyzyk beat Guerriero alone from the right circle at 9:35 of the second period for a 1-0 UND lead.

Chyzyk’s power play goal ended UAH’s streak of consecutive penalties killed at 34 dating back to November 25.

About halfway through the second period, Johnson broke a 62-year North Dakota record for longest consecutive scoreless streak, which was 249:41 set by Gerald “Spike” Schultz in 1954.

Johnson’s streak continued after making a save on a Tyler Poulsen penalty shot at 1:28 left in the second. Johnson made saves on Adam Wilcox and Jack Prince as UAH put on some extended pressure to end the period.

The third period had little flow with many whistles, many caused by UAH icings. The Hawks kept putting the pressure on the UAH defense and Guerriero, who continued to see the puck well and make the saves.

As the period progressed, the Chargers started to find chances to make that tying goal, but not convert. With around seven minutes to go, a puck bounce in front of the UND net found Max McHugh‘s stick, but he put the puck wide. About a minute later, Johnson made a nice save on a rising shot from Prince.

But the biggest chance came with about a minute left, when Fletcher made an offensive zone steal and drove in toward Johnson, who finished with 19 saves in front of a crowd of 11,334 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Game two of the series is Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. The game can be seen via subscription on NCHC.tv.

Back in the win column. It’s a wonderful thing.

Richard Buri‘s goal early in the third period was the game-winner as UAH ended an 11-game winless streak Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Colorado College.

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Matt Larose made 35 saves in net for the Chargers, who won for the first time since winning at Lake Superior State on Oct. 31. UAH (4-12-2) won at home for the first time since beating Connecticut on Oct. 9.

Colorado College (4-16-0) scored the first goal 19 seconds into the second period to take the first lead. Sam Rothstein was assisted by Nashville Predators prospect Teemu Kivihalme and Luc Gerdes.

UAH tied it up at the 8:34 mark of the second, as Adam Wilcox scored his third goal of the season, deflecting a Jack Prince shot past CC goalie Jacob Nehama while on the power play. It was Prince’s fourth assist of the year, while Jetlan Houcher got his second helper.

The Chargers got their lead as Buri’s shot trickled between Nehama’s legs at 2:56 of the third period. Buri’s first goal of the season was assisted by Brennan Saulnier and Frank Misuraca.

UAH continued its great run of penalty killing, extending its streak of power plays killed to 32. UAH has not allowed a power play goal in eight games.

Colorado College went 0-for-5 on the power play, including a 5-minute stretch covering most of the end of the second period after UAH’s Hans Gorowsky was called for a checking-from-behind major and a game misconduct.

Colorado College outshot UAH 36-33 in the contest.

The Chargers get next weekend off for Christmas before heading to Grand Forks to take on North Dakota over New Year’s. UAH is back at home on Jan. 8-9, resuming WCHA play against Alaska.

NOTES: UAH goaltender Carmine Guerriero was scratched for the first time. He suffered an injury in Friday’s game. … Sophomore James Block played his first official game for the Chargers. His only other action for UAH was in exhibition games against Alabama earlier this season and against the USA Under-18 Development Team last season.

A promising season has officially hit rock bottom.

The Chargers lost 5-2 to Colorado College at the Von Braun Center on Friday night, extending their winless streak to 11 games. They lost to a team that had lost its first 13 games of the season. They allowed five goals to a team that came in 58th of 60 Division I teams in scoring offense. They scored two goals on a team that came in 59th in scoring defense.

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After a 3-2-1 start, UAH is now 3-12-2. Colorado College improved to 4-15-0.

The Tigers scored first on Hunter Fejes’ goal at 11:00 of the 1st. UAH tied the game on Adam Wilcox’s shorthanded breakaway goal just 1:34 later, his second goal of the season.

The game fell apart for the Chargers late in the second, when Colorado College scored two goals in a span of 44 seconds to take a 3-1 lead. Matt Hansen and Fejes were the scorers.

The Tigers continued to pull away early in the third with two more goals. Luc Gerdes made it 4-1 at 3:12, and Sam Rothstein made it 5-1 at 5:13.

UAH goaltender Carmine Guerriero, who stopped 27 of 32 shots, left the game after being hurt on CC’s last goal. Matt Larose came in to finish the final 14:47, saving both shots he faced.

With 6:23 to go, CC’s Trey Bradley cross-checked Kurt Gosselin in the head, knocking Gosselin momentarily unconscious. Bradley received a five-minute major and a game disqualification, banning him from Saturday’s game.

Chad Brears added a goal with 3:16 left in the game for the final 5-2 score. It was his seventh goal of the season. Brennan Saulnier and Max McHugh got the assists.

Game two of the series is Saturday night at 7 at Von Braun Center.

Minnesota State showed why they are the class of the WCHA and the long way the Chargers have to go to reach their level.

The Mavericks scored three unanswered goals in the second period and rode another large shots advantage to beat UAH 4-1 in Mankato on Saturday night. MSU finished the two-game sweep while outshooting the Chargers 41-15.

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UAH (3-11-2, 2-10-2) saw its winless streak extended to 10 games. Minnesota State (10-6-4 overall, 9-1-4 WCHA) maintained a three-point lead over Michigan Tech atop the conference standings.

The first period on Saturday was almost a carbon copy of the first period on Friday. Minnesota State had more than double the shots on goal as UAH (this time 12-5), but it was the Chargers again with the 1-0 lead.

Jetlan Houcher scored his fourth goal of the season, firing the puck from the left circle past MSU goaltender Jason Pawloski at the 8:13 mark. Matt Salhany got the primary assist, his third of the season, with his feeding pass from the slot. Adam Wilcox also got his third assist.

In the second, the Mavericks asserted the dominance they have enjoyed over the Chargers over the past three seasons. They had 14 shots on goal before UAH got their first, getting 21 in all, and scored three unanswered goals.

Michael Huntebrinker, who got the equalizer for MSU on Friday, got the tying goal again at the 4:12 mark, assisted on a nice centering pass from Casey Nelson.

The Mavericks took the lead on a costly UAH mistake. A turnover in the offensive zone led to an MSU 3-on-1, and CJ Franklin finished with a one-timer at 9:57. Jaden Schmeisser got the assist.

MSU made it 3-1 as Schmeisser, a sophomore defenseman, fired the puck through traffic and past Charger goaltender Carmine Guerriero at 13:05.

UAH had a couple of chances late in the period as Minnesota State laxed a little on defense, but Jason Pawloski kept the Chargers off the board.

The Chargers could not do much in the third period, and MSU finished the scoring with a Huntebrinker empty-net goal with 1:42 left in the contest.

Guerriero, who started in net for UAH for the third straight game, made a season-high 37 saves in what has become typical of a UAH-Minnesota State game. The Mavericks outshot the Chargers 73-24 in the series as they are now 8-0-0 against UAH since both have been in the WCHA.

One bright spot for the series was the penalty kill for UAH. The Chargers killed all three Minnesota State power plays Saturday, extending their streak to 21 straight kills over the last six games.

UAH finishes the 2015 portion of the schedule next weekend back home at the Von Braun Center. The Chargers host Colorado College of the NCHC on Dec. 11 and 12.

The Chargers mustered only nine shots on goal, and allowed two third-period scores to lose 2-1 at No. 20 Minnesota State in Mankato on Friday.

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UAH (3-10-2 overall, 2-9-2 WCHA) saw its winless streak extended to nine games, while the WCHA-leading Mavericks (9-6-4 overall, 8-1-4 WCHA) are unbeaten in their last eight.

UAH lead 1-0 at 12:06 of the first period when Chad Brears tipped a Max McHugh shot from near the left point, beating Maverick goaltender Jason Pawloski. From that point on, the Chargers only had four shots on goal the rest of the game. Brennan Saulnier got the secondary assist.

Brears extended a point-scoring streak of five games. It was also his fourth goal in five games, giving the senior a total of six on the season.

MSU had many chances to tie the game partially thanks to three power plays in the first period. The Mavericks’ best chance game when UAH goaltender Carmine Guerriero stopped a Max Coatta shot, and Brett Knowles’s rebound attempt bounced over Guerriero’s shoulder and on top of the net.

The goaltenders Guerriero and Pawloski did not see many pucks in the second period.

Despite four power plays in the period, including 1:11 of two-man advantage after Saulnier went flying on being kneed by C.J. Franklin, the Chargers only mustered two shots on goal. UAH was 0-for-6 on the power play.

The Mavericks weren’t much better, only getting seven shots on goal in the second period. Minnesota State dominated the third period, however, to take control and win the game. Michael Huntebrinker skated right down the middle and beat Guerriero at the 1:06 mark to tie the game.

Then with 3:40 left, right after UAH killed a Maverick power play, a turnover leads to an odd-man rush for MSU. Franklin sent the puck ahead to Blueger, who beat Guerriero for an MSU 2-1 lead.

It was a downer for the Chargers to allow the winning goal right after they went 6-for-6 on the penalty kill in the game. Over the last five games, UAH has killed 18 straight penalties.

The Mavericks outshot the Chargers 13-1 in the third period, leading to a 32-9 advantage for the game.

Guerriero finished with 30 saves. Pawloski needed to make only eight.

Game two of the series is Saturday night at 7:07 p.m.

The bright side is that the losing streak is over, albeit barely. However, it still feels like points were left on the table for the Chargers.

Frank Misuraca‘s goal early in the third period equalized the game, and Carmine Guerriero and the Chargers held on for a 1-1 tie Saturday night at the Von Braun Center. The draw ended a seven-game losing streak for UAH (3-9-2 overall, 2-8-2 WCHA).

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Northern Michigan (5-5-6 overall, 4-4-4 WCHA), which has already played in seven overtime games this season, dominated puck possession in the final half of the game, so it was rather fortunate that UAH salvaged a point after losing Friday’s game in heartbreaking fashion. NMU outshot UAH 37-29, including a 15-3 advantage in the third period.

It was quite the opposite of what the Chargers did Friday, when they had the most shots on goal since 2009 with 47.

However, UAH started the game following Friday’s plan: Peppering NMU goaltender Atte Tolvanen. The Chargers fired away and got 13 on net — but no goals. Tolvanen made particularly good saves on Madison Dunn and Hans Gorowsky after a couple of centering attempts late in the period.

The Wildcats got nine of their own, but Guerriero was up to the task. He stopped an open Darren Nowick with under a minute to go to keep the game scoreless after one.

UAH had one scary moment with 5:59 left in the first, when Huntsville native Josh Kestner was knocked down near the head as he tried to get a stick on a rebound in front of the NMU net. He was able to skate off in his own power, but would be back in the game.

The second period was the first frame of the whole series that Northern Michigan had real control, and it started when the Wildcats got on the board first. John Siemer, on the right wing of a 2-on-1, fired and beat Guerriero on his glove side at 4:08.

After that, NMU saw the most puck possession of any period in the series, and the visiting NMU fans shared in their team’s energy. The Wildcats outshot the Chargers 12-10 in the second period.

Meanwhile, the closest UAH came to tying the game was Dunn’s rebound shot going wide as Tolvanen went down.

The Charger goal occurred at 2:00 of the third, when in a sort of role reversal, defenseman Misuraca received a pass from right wing Chad Brears, and directed the puck past Tolvanen to tie the game. It was Misuraca’s first goal of the season, and Brears’s sixth assist.

Despite that, the Wildcats continued their groove in the third period, capitalizing on UAH turnovers and continuing to test Guerriero. Unlike Friday, NMU could not convert those turnovers into goals as Guerriero — who finished with 36 saves in a performance reminiscent of last season — made timely saves with the pad and proper covers with the glove.

In particular, NMU had a 2-on-1 on a UAH turnover with 8:45 left in regulation, but Guerriero was able to get a pad on Filip Starzynski’s shot from the slot.

UAH held on to force overtime, where they had three shots to NMU’s one but still needed defensive support. Cody Champagne had one of his four blocks (and UAH’s 18 total blocks) during the extra session.

The Wildcats had one last chance as Siemer had a breakaway, but he couldn’t convert as the final buzzer sounded.

The Chargers’ next action is next weekend at defending WCHA champion and current league leader Minnesota State. UAH returns home on Dec. 18 and 19 to face NCHC opponent Colorado College.

HUNTSVILLE — Northern Michigan (5-5-5, 4-4-3 WCHA) rolled into Huntsville and pressured the Chargers into costly mistakes, coming away with a last-minute goal to snatch victory from the UAH Chargers (3-9-1, 2-8-1 WCHA) by a 4-3 margin.  The Wildcats were powered by junior alternate captain Dominik Shine (Pinckney, Mich.) scoring his first collegiate hat trick.

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I’ve spent the last three hours trying to figure out what to say about this game.  I’ll say this: when UAH was clicking, they were clicking.  They put 22 shots on goal in the first period, netting one of them, and put 47 on all told, a mark that the Chargers hadn’t met since March 14, 2009, the last time the team had poured on 40+, in a season-ending tie in the 3rd-place game in the 2009 #CHAForever tournament.

But then there were the ghastly, ghastly turnovers in their end.  There were some real head-shakers — the WCHA video cutters left them there for you to see.  Puck security was often there, but when it leaked a little, it was like Niagara Falls.

Max McHugh had a solid night on the score sheet, and at a number of points his steadiness with the puck made the offense really click.  UAH had one long 1:00+ sustained offensive possession that had NMU scrambling so hard that I actually checked to make sure that I hadn’t missed a penalty.  It was that kind of quality execution that we’ve come to expect after having lacked it for so long.

But the turnovers … man, yeah.  The first was a forward trying to hold the puck in and blindly making a pass that Shine saw coming and intercepted with a full head of steam.  The next, he and a teammate flummoxed retreating UAH defensemen so much that they put the puck right on Shine’s stick.  And while you can’t see it in the video, Shine again was the thief, jumping a play and drawing a penalty on his shorthanded breakaway.

All hats are off for Shine, and the bareheaded among us can now be left to shake those heads at our side.