UAA hockey snaps three-game skid with blowout of UNLV

After shedding 3 instantly following the primary victory of their inaugural season since being totally reinstated, the University of Alaska Anchorage males’s hockey crew wanted a get-right sport. The Seawolves discovered it Friday, bouncing again with a powerful 8-0 victory over University of Nevada Las Vegas on the Seawolf Sports Complex.

UAA had seven other avid gamers rating targets and 13 overall avid gamers report a minimum of one level within the exhibition conquer the Rebels.

“That’s what we want to see in these games,” UAA trainer Matt Shasby mentioned. “Roll four lines, participate in all situations whether it’s special teams, defensive zone, faceoff, and just getting reps underneath all 20 guys.”

The Seawolves basically performed their underclassmen, many of whom have been seeing the ice for the primary time within the younger season and were given standout performances from a couple of rookies specifically.

“It’s nice to have a variety of guys get on the board and it feels good to put eight goals up but at the same time there’s a lot of things we need to be better at (Saturday),” Shasby mentioned. “At the end of the day it was guys executing around the front of the net and getting goals the right way.”

UAA used to be led in scoring via freshman defenseman William Gilson who discovered the again of the web two times at the night time, as soon as within the opening duration and once more in the second one.

“I got two great opportunities, our forwards are doing a lot of good work down in the offensive zone,” Gilson mentioned. “Not two of the hardest goals but it was great to get on the board.”

The final time freshman goaltender Jared Whale noticed motion in a sport used to be again in March when he used to be enjoying junior hockey for the Olds Grizzlys within the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). In his first look and get started for the Seawolves, he used to be lighting fixtures out and completed with 18 saves, serving to the crew to a shutout win.

“It’s been awhile since I played a game but playing with these guys in front of me gives me confidence and I hope I give them confidence as well,” Whale mentioned. “It feels awesome to be back in the win column.”

“Everyone in the room expected that” Gilson mentioned. “We see it everyday in practice. He’s a great goalie, and I’m glad we got to see that in the ice today.”

The Calgary, Alberta local and his teammates have been particularly stingy and stout defensively after they have been short-handed at the ice as they Rebels couldn’t capitalize on any of their 5 energy play alternatives that incorporated a 5-on-3 state of affairs for 34 seconds early in the second one duration, adopted via 5-on-4 for any other minute.

“I was happy with the penalty kill tonight,” Shasby mentioned. “Guys were blocking shots and they were executing. At those moments you just got to be smart and outwork the power play and I thought we did that.”

Gilson mentioned that making improvements to on their penalty kill used to be some extent of emphasis this previous week after no longer with the ability to execute in that house of their two-game sequence as opposed to Colorado College final weekend.

“They did a really good job of pressuring point guys and trying to force pucks down low to the wall, jumping on loose pucks, and sending them down the ice,” Whale mentioned. “I don’t even think they got a shot in on the 5-on-3.”

UAA used an explosive first duration to attain all of the targets they had to come away with the win. Junior Matt Allen were given the offensive onslaught began via drawing first blood with 12 mins and 21 seconds left at the clock. Despite being a person brief at the ice at the first energy play alternative of the sport for UNLV, Gilson scored his first and the second one of the sport not up to 3 mins later on the 9:43 mark.

“He’s dynamic from the backend and he has the ability to slip around people and finish,” Shasby mentioned. “We’re looking for Will to do that consistently and he has thus far this year.”

UAA tacked on two extra targets ahead of the duration ended, 3 extra in the second one that incorporated Gilson’s 2nd for the 6th of the sport at 11:15 mark. Graduate switch, Caleb Hite, added 8th and ultimate within the 3rd and ultimate duration.

The Seawolves weren’t in a position to capitalize on any of their very own energy play alternatives however nonetheless controlled rating this system’s maximum targets in one sport of the season and probably the most general since they beat Simon Fraser 6-1 in an exhibition on September 30, 2017.

“The team was clicking on all cylinders tonight and got a lot of confidence and a lot of offense,” Gilson mentioned.

The final time they scored 8 targets in a sport got here in a season-opening shutout of Western Ontario in an exhibition on Oct. 4, 2014.

While exhibition video games don’t rely in opposition to the crew’s report, they nonetheless supply beneficial enjoy for more youthful avid gamers who don’t hardly see constant time at the ice.

“Hockey is a game where you just need to be on the ice, you need to feel the game, and you need to play the game without thinking,” Shasby mentioned. “The more that we can just roll lines and get guys out there in all situations, the better it’s going to be for us later on down the line and throughout the rest of the season.”