ANCHORAGE – Alaska Fairbanks and Northeastern battled to a 2-2 tie after in the opening game of the Kendall Hockey Classic Friday night at the Sullivan Arena. The Nanooks then won the three-player shootout for purposes of determining a tournament champion.
UAF can thank forwards Brandon and Dion Knelsen for forging the tie and also for the shootout win. Brandon Knelsen scored both Nanook goals on assists from his younger brother and Dion Knelsen notched the lone shootout tally to give UAF the tiebreaker with the Huskies.
After a scoreless first period, Northeastern got things rolling when Dennis McCauley sent a one-timer past UAF goalie Chad Johnson at 1:52 early in the second period. Ryan Ginand and Kyle Kraemer picked up assists on the score for the Huskies.
Brandon Knelsen finally got UAF on the scoreboard at 8:06 in the third, when he redirected Dion Knelsen’s shot from the right wing past Northeastern goalie Brad Thiessen.
NU went up 2-1 on Steve Quailer’s goal just over five minutes later on a feed from Steve Silva and Tyler McNeely. But Brandon Knelsen answered again when he dived to the net and chipped the puck past NU’s Thiessen. Dion Knelsen and defenseman Dustin Molle picked up assists on the score for the Nanooks.
Dion Knelsen then tallied the lone goal in the shootout to improve UAF’s chances of its first Kendall Classic title. The Nanooks were 0-4-0 in two previous Classic appearances in 1985 and 1986.
The shootout goal overshadowed a strong night by Theissen, who stopped 29 Nanook shots. Johnson finished the game with 18 saves for UAF. The Nanooks outshot the Huskies 31-20. UAF was scoreless in six power play chances but Northeastern fared no better with an 0-for-3 effort on the man advantage.
Classic play continues tonight with the late game between Alaska Anchorage and Connecticut. The Nanooks return to action against UConn in Saturday’s early game at 4:05 p.m., while Northeastern will battle host Alaska Anchorage at 7:05 p.m.
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