The good news: A season-high crowd of 3,614 was in attendance for the second night of Military Appreciation Weekend.
The bad news: They didn’t have much to cheer about as the Chargers lost 4-1 to Alaska-Anchorage on Saturday. The teams tied 1-1 on Friday.
UAA (12-9-3 overall, 8-7-3 WCHA) dominated puck possession most of the game en route to a 44-19 shots on goal advantage over UAH (1-24-1, 1-14-1).
The Seawolves came out aggressive and controlled possession in the UAH defensive zone. But it wasn’t until coincidental roughing penalties to UAH’s Cody Marooney and UAA’s Ben Matthews that the Seawolves got the open ice to capitalize. Matt Bailey pounced on two loose pucks off of Carmine Guerriero, scoring twice 17 seconds apart during the 4-on-4, to give Alaska-Anchorage an early 2-0 lead.
UAH did little to answer, not getting its first shot on UAA goaltender Chris Kamal until 4:46 left in the first period. It was the Chargers’ only shot for the period to UAA’s 14.
The Chargers did come out of the second period with more energy — and shots on goal thanks to two Seawolf penalties, but UAH was unable to score.
After killing a Derek Docken cross-checking penalty, UAA regained control of the contest. The Seawolves eventually put a third goal past Guerriero from Jordan Kwas with 2:36 left in the second.
UAH got its goal in the third on a great goal by Matt Salhany, who sped through the offensive zone, into the slot, and lifted the puck over UAA goalie Chris Kamal with 6:42 left. The goal fired up the crowd.
However, Kwas scored his second goal of the game with 2:12 remaining for the final score.
After taking next weekend off, the Chargers go on their second Alaska trip, facing the Nanooks in Fairbanks on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. It’s the first of three road trips, as the Chargers don’t play at home until Feb. 21 and 22 against Lake Superior State.