Nanooks Earn Sweep With 5-3 Win Over UBC
Oct 31, 2004, 03:39

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NANOOKS EARN SWEEP WITH 5-3 WIN OVER UBC

FAIRBANKS, AK-It was a contrast in styles when the University of Alaska Fairbanks' hockey team played British Columbia in the second game of their two-game exhibition weekend series at the Patty Center Saturday evening.

As they did Friday night, the Nanooks broke on top. But this time, they had to withstand a second -period UBC rally fueled by three power play goals before rallying for a 5-3 victory.

Junior right wing Kelly Czuy (Edmonton, AB) took a pass from linemate Curtis Fraser (So. Surrey, BC) and scored to give UAF a 1-0 lead at the 7:10 mark of the first period. Nick Marach tied the score for the Thunderbirds nine and a half minutes later.

Senior center Jared Sylvestre (Bonnyville, AB) and freshman left wing Adam Powell (Fairbanks, AK) scored on the power play in the second period to stake the Nanooks to a 3-1 lead at the 8:18 mark. UBC came right back, with power play goals from Adam Gibson and Mike Gough with 1:06 of each other allowing UBC to create a 3-all tie with 7:21 remaining in the second period.

However, the Thunderbirds took three consecutive minor penalties in the final three minutes of the second period. Sophomore defenseman Nathan Fornataro (Calgary, AB) converted passes from Fraser and freshman defenseman Darcy Campbell (Airdrie, AB) at 19:12 of the second period to give the Nanooks a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Czuy scored his second goal of the game at 10:01 of the third period after passes from freshman left wing Kyle Greentree (Victoria, BC) and Fraser to make it 5-3.

The teams combined for 40 minutes in penalties in the third period, but UBC goalie Jesse Boyd and freshman Ryan Comeau (Red Deer, AB), who came on in the third period, each made seven saves.

"Even though we got the results we wanted with a sweep this weekend, I thought that we did a better job of forcing the play in the two weekends before, against Western Michigan and Anchorage," said UAF Head Coach Tavis MacMillan. "When you talk about discipline, work ethic and focus, we played well at times, but not at other times. Our styles are contrasting, and sometimes it's tough to play against a team with such a different style. That's a lesson we have to learn. Now we have to get back to practice and get ready to play Nebraska-Omaha, which is probably our biggest rival outside of Anchorage."

Czuy, Greentree, senior defenseman Corbin Schmidt(Anchorage, AK), senior right wing Jason Grinevitch (Glendon, AB) and Fraser each finished thegame with two points.

Alaska Fairbanks' record remained at 2-2-0, 1-1-0 in CCHA play. The Nanooks will be home again next weekend when they play UNO Friday and Saturday Nov. 5 and 6. The puck drops at 7:05 P.M. both evenings.

-UAF HOCKEY-