Nanooks Win Card Game, Defeat UNO 4-1

I was wondering how UNO would respond after taking one on the chin Friday night against UAA. They definitely played more aggresively, but I think their young roster just weren't able to keep pace with the depth on the Nanooks bench.

That was pretty apparent when Colton Beck was left unchallenged at the front of the net, and if you give a guy like him any room chances are you're gonna pay for it. And that's exactly what happened. Taranto found Beck in front, and Beck got a shot on Massa, but he made a good save but left a juicy rebound and Beck had no problem finding twine. Too bad he can't get a goal AND an assist on the same score line, but Taranto and Gens were equally deserving.

Less than a minute into the 2nd, Aaron Gens took a tripping penalty but as it was winding down, Nik Yaremchuk made the shot of his life. That rising slapshot from just inside the blue line very easily was the goal of the tournament. Watching it from the booth down on the ice was just unreal. Given the location of the shot, and the lack of traffic in front of him, I'm surprised that the goalie didn't get the save, but watching the replay that puck just barely snuck in under the crossbar just over the goalie's left shoulder. But it was just a great opportunity. That's what he had there tonight. That's what he earned there tonight. Hell, if he takes that shot 10 times, he might miss 9. But not that shot. Not tonight...

Anyway, props last night went to Meyers and Thompson. Tonight, props go to Nolan Youngmun for his first collegiate goal. Younger picked off a pass in the neutral zone and had a 2 on 1 chance with Adam Henderson in toe.  Nolan looked for the pass but hit the defender's skate and right to the back of the net. Great play by the freshman from Anchorage.

I also have to retroactively give props, last night Garrick Perry scored his first goal, also unassisted. I recapped it, but didn't throw in the fact that it was his first collegiate goal! Sorry!

Colton Beck capitalized on a turnover in the Nanooks offensive zone, and Massa didn't even have a chance. A quick stick plus high shot equalled goal number 4. Easy equation, really. Unfortunately, the math for the tournament win isn't quite as easy. ACC scored 9 goals, Nanooks scored 9 goals. However, UAA was a +7 in goal differential, the Nanooks were +6. So, the hardware gets to live in Anchorage, but congrats to them. Seriously. I thought they played a great couple of games, and they look like a pretty good team. Should be pretty interesting to follow them this season and see how things pan out come February.
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EDIT: So this new Blogger format is really starting to aggravate me. I somehow turned on some approval type of process, and this post got stuck Saturday night. I went to look for comments tonight and starting freaking out about what happened to the post. Sorry for getting this out late. At least I know where to check now.