ANCHORAGE, Alaska- The theme of the weekend matchup of the Mavericks and Seawolves is that a two goal lead is never a safe lead. Similar to the Seawolves’ performance from Friday night, MSU started things off with a two goal lead, only to have UAA battle their way back into things. The main difference is that the contest ended in a 2-2 tie.

Coming into the contest UAA was optimistic after a great performance from the night before, but that feeling of confidence was tested after Mike Louwerse fired a shot that bounced off of Seawolves goaltender Bryce Christianson and went right into the net only 4:43 into the game. The tally was the fourth power play goal of the weekend for MSU.

Later in the period the Mavericks found the back of the net again after a UAA turnover in their own zone ended with Mike Berge beating Christianson cleanly to give the team a 2-0 lead after the first period.

MSU was very opportunistic with its shots as the team only tallied four shots on goal in the frame; UAA had eight. Early in the second period UAA made things interesting after Josh Lunden cleaned up a rebound from a Curtis Leinweber shot to beat MSU net minder Mike Zacharias with no difficulty.

After the Lunden goal the Seawolves had an extra jump in their step and it showed on the stats sheet. The team totaled 13 shots on goal in the frame, compared to MSU’s three.

Despite the plethora of shots, UAA did not find the back of the net again until the middle of the third when Paul Crowder skated the puck in an odd-man rush and decided to take the shot and wound up beating Zacharias five-hole.

The goal was Crowders’ third of the weekend and also gave him a total of four points in the weekend series. Last week UAA sophomore Tommy Grant had a similar performance in which he scored three goals against Michigan Tech. Lunden, who is one of the assistant captain’s for the Seawolves, likes what he is seeing.

“It’s good that we have well-rounded scoring,” said Lunden. “It’s something that has been missing for us in the past and I believe that it is something that will help us in the end.”

Crowders’ goal was the last of the game as the teams skated to a 2-2 tie. UAA outshot MSU convincingly 33-14, but the difference was Zacharias who stopped multiple Seawolf scoring chances.

UAA head coach Dave Shyiak was once again pleased with his teams effort.

“It was Seawolf hockey at its best”, said Shyiak. “We cycled well and played good transition hockey.”

With the tie Christianson is still undefeated as he and Jon Olthuis are still splitting games. The tie also puts UAA and MSU in a three-way tie for fifth place in the WCHA standings with North Dakota. The Seawolves travel to Grand Forks to battle the Fighting Sioux next weekend in attempt to continue what is one of the great surprises in the early part of the college hockey season.