Arctic Bears power past Ravens

FAIRBANKS — The Fairbanks Arctic Bears powered their way to a pair of wins over the Mat-Su Ravens in the Interior over the weekend.

After Mat-Su posted a 2-1 win during the first contest of the three-game set on Thursday, the Bears scored nine power play goals the following two nights to notch the wins over the Ravens.

“That killed us,” Mat-Su head coach Dudley Boehm said.

Fairbanks collected four power play goals during a 6-5 win on Friday and scored five times with the advantage during a 6-1 victory on Saturday. Three of those power play goals on Saturday came while Fairbanks was skating with the 5-on-3 edge.

In Saturday’s loss, senior Kyla Gauthier gave the Ravens the early 1-0 lead, skating coast to coast to record the unassisted tally.

Fairbanks was able to sneak a puck past Mat-Su freshman netminder Casey Brand with 35 seconds in the first period, and that score proved to be the first of six unanswered goals for the Bears.

Boehm said the Ravens were hammered with penalties during the final two periods, which led to the demise of the team in the game.

“There was one penalty in the first period, we ran all three lines, and in the second period it was penalty, penalty, penalty,” Boehm said.

Kate Burns led the Bears with a hat trick in the win.

On Friday, senior Rosey Fujimoto, who scored four times in the loss, gave the Ravens a 3-0 advantage when she knocked a puck in at the 12:31 mark of the second.

Fairbanks climbed back into the game, thanks to the work of its power play, and eventually netted the game-winner with just 1:15 left in regulation.

Gauthier also had a goal for the Ravens in the loss.

Mikhayla Waugaman and Jessica Larrabee scored for Mat-Su during its 2-1 win on Thursday.

Larrabee, with help from Fujimoto and Waugaman, scored early in the second to give the Ravens the 1-0 advantage, and Waugaman padded that lead, scoring five minutes later.

Mat-Su outshot Fairbanks 22-16 in the win, and Branch made 15 saves.

The three-game set capped the 2008-09 for the third-year program. Mat-Su made tremendous strides in its third season, notching a program-best five wins. In its previous two years, Mat-Su could only claim a win and a tie.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.