Alaska Anchorage scored three goals in the first period and cruised to a 5-1 win over UAH at the Seawolf Sports Center in Anchorage on Friday night.
Austin Beaulieu provided the lone goal for the Chargers, who fell to 1-19-3 overall and 1-13-3-1 in the WCHA.
Alaska Anchorage (4-14-3, 4-11-2-2 WCHA) moved into eighth place in the WCHA standings, jumping over Ferris State. FSU is seven points ahead of the Chargers.
Game two of the series is at 8 p.m. CST from Anchorage.
The Seawolves came out peppering UAH goaltender Mark Sinclair (41 saves), and took a 1-0 lead at the 5:28 mark. Nick Wicks put in his own rebound from the left side.
UAA led 2-0 after Tony deGraaf scored just three minutes later, having on open net as the puck came to him with Sinclair out of position.
Zach Nazzarett scored with five minutes remaining to finish a dominant 3-0 first period for the Seawolves, who outshot the Chargers 20-10.
The Chargers asserted themselves for the first half of the second period, outshooting the Seawolves 11-2 at one point, but goaltender Kris Carlson kept UAH out of the net.
But UAA would crank up the shots again the rest of the second period, thanks in part to two power plays, to close the gap. But Sinclair, who felt a little pain on one particular save, posted a scoreless frame himself.
Tanner Schachle scored at the 2:18 mark of the third period to make it 4-0, but Austin Beaulieu answered 18 seconds later with a snapper from the right side to finally put UAH on the board.
A scare occurred in the Anchorage end just under four minutes into the period. UAA’s Zach Masson shoved Peyton Francis, who went into the corner backwards. His back and head hit the boards, and UAH training staff had to escort him off the ice, likely for concussion protocol. Masson received a minor boarding penalty.
Nazzarett scored his second goal of the night to put the Seawolves up 5-1.
With 10 minutes to go, the Chargers had a goal waved off. Beaulieu’s shot hit Carlson and trickled down to the ice and deflected off Josh Latta’s skate and in, but officials ruled after video review that Latta made unforced contact with the goaltender.
UAA outshot the Chargers 46-36.