Even with competing sports interests on Super Bowl Sunday, fans headed to the Avis Alaska Sports Complex to watch the Seawolves defeat the Long Island University Sharks 3-1.
By Avery Williamson
On a weekend dominated by Super Bowl headlines, Connor Marritt was the star of the night in Anchorage. The senior from British Columbia scored the Seawolves’ first short-handed goal since 2020. The score helped his team go on to defeat Long Island University in front of a hometown crowd and split the weekend series.
In the first game of the series won by LIU 2-1 on Saturday night, the Sharks jumped into the lead with a first-period, power-play goal.
Both teams returned to the ice after the first intermission and played strong defense, leading to a scoreless second period.
Heading into the final period down one goal, the Seawolves prepared to make a comeback. The Sharks extended their lead to two goals.
With a little more than two minutes left in the game, the Seawolves pulled goalie Jared Whale to add another offensive player to the ice. Their strategy worked, with Brett Bamber scoring his fourth goal of the season with less than a minute left on the clock. The goal was assisted by Ben Almquist and Aiden Westin.
The goal put the Seawolves within striking distance, but despite their valiant effort, the team wasn’t able to score again and tie it up before the final buzzer. The Sharks took the victory 2-1.
Coming back the second night, Head Coach Matt Shasby said the team didn’t need to make any major adjustments, they simply needed to execute better.
“I thought we weren’t sharp for the first game and our energy needed to be better,” he said.
On Sunday night, Shasby put Greg Orosz in the net as goalie because he “was well overdue to get his first start at home.”
“He has been great every game he has started and we have a ton of confidence putting him in any night.”
Orosz didn’t disappoint, making 22 saves.
Riley Thompson got the Seawolves on the board with a minute left in the first period. The goal was assisted by Aiden Westin and Connor Marritt.
Things looked grim as Karter McNarland was sent to the penalty box for a delay of game penalty seven minutes into the second period, but the Seawolves didn’t let this get to them. Instead, Marritt scored the short-handed goal for the Seawolves.
Marritt’s goal marked the first Seawolf short-handed goal since Trey deGraaf’s goal at Lake Superior State on Jan. 24, 2020.
Ben Almquist recorded the assist for the short-handed goal and the Seawolves headed into the final period with a 2-0 lead over the Sharks.
Though a Seawolf victory was already in sight, freshman Aiden Westin found the net with less than seven minutes until the final buzzer to expand the lead to 3-0. Riley Thompson, also a freshman on the team this year, assisted the goal.
With two minutes left in the game, the Sharks pulled goalie Noah Rupprecht in hopes of making a comeback. While they were able to score, it wasn’t enough to defeat the Seawolves and UAA claimed the 3-1 victory over the Sharks.
Even with the Super Bowl taking place at the same time, many fans attended the Sunday matchup. “The fans did a great job supporting the team,” said Shasby. “Our guys didn’t really notice a difference.”
Looking forward, Shasby said the team is going to focus on its power play. “If you want to win games on the road in college hockey you need to score power-play goals.”
UP NEXT
The Seawolves hit the road this week to face off against Lindenwood University on Feb. 16-17 in Missouri. They’ll then head to South Dakota to compete against Augustana University on Feb. 23-24. The team will finish off the season at home as they take on Stonehill College on March 1-2 and Arizona State on March 8-9.
As always, Anchorage fans are encouraged to join the official watch party at Las Margaritas, located at 541 W. Dimond Blvd, for away games and head to the Avis Alaska Sports Complex for home games.