The Alaska Nanooks ended their regular season with a 5-1 victory over the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Saturday, February 28. This win secured the Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup for the Nanooks for the 15th consecutive year and brought their season record to 14-15-2.
Michael Citara opened the scoring for Alaska with a power-play goal late in the first period, assisted by Nathan Rickey and Tommy Cronin. The Seawolves tied the game early in the second period when Ryan Johnson scored on a power play. Shortly after, Davis Borozinskis put Alaska back in front, capitalizing on a deflection from Chase Dafoe and an assist from Caelum Dick.
Jhett Larson extended the lead with his first goal of the night before adding another early in the third period. Tommy Cronin contributed multiple assists throughout the game, finishing with four points. Citara added his second goal of the evening midway through the third period to make it 5-1.
Alaska outshot Anchorage 36 to 28. Goaltender Lassi Lehti made 27 saves, including twelve in the opening period. The Nanooks were effective at faceoffs, winning 39 out of 63 draws, with Chase Dafoe leading at 18 wins from 24 attempts.
On special teams, Alaska converted three out of eight power plays and killed two out of three penalties. Defensively, Noah Barlage and Hugo Marcil each blocked three shots.
Three players—Tommy Cronin (four assists), Michael Citara (two goals and one assist), and Jhett Larson (two goals and one assist)—finished with three or more points each.
The Nanooks will continue their season next weekend at the United Collegiate Hockey Cup in St. Louis as the number one seed. They are scheduled to play Friday against either the fourth or fifth seed team; details regarding opponents and start times will be announced later.
“We finished our regular season strong,” said head coach Erik Largen after Saturday’s game. “Now we look forward to competing at nationals.”
