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6 UAA Players To Be Suspended Against DU On Friday

From: Anchorage Daily News
By ANDREW HINKELMAN

Fight Photos!!!

COLORADO SPRINGS - The Seawolves return home next weekend to play Denver, and will do so shorthanded. UAA had just three healthy scratches Saturday, and with six players suspended for the first game against Denver, UAA could be down by as many as three players.

Colorado College turned the tables on UAA Saturday night, scoring a late overtime win of its own after coming out on the short end of the same Friday.

But it was the actions of both teams after Scott McCulloch's goal secured a 4-3 victory that will live on in the memories of those at World Arena, and the repercussions of those actions will echo in the coming weeks.

What had been an otherwise stellar game and series dissolved into an ugly benches-clearing brawl shortly after the deciding goal.

Eleven players received fighting majors and game misconducts -- six Seawolves and five Tigers. All will be suspended for their team's next game.

UAA forwards Chris Tarkir, Jay Beagle, Kevin Clark and Blair Tassone and defensemen Mark Smith and Chad Anderson were all penalized.

So were Tigers Addison DeBoer, Mike Testwuide, Lee Sweatt, Brandon Straub and Jake Gannon.

The brawl took place directly in front of the Seawolves bench after CC had scored in Overtime. As the CC players rushed to celebrate the GWG goal, someone appeared to grab CC Goalie Matt Zaba and a huge brawl ensued. The brawl got uglier as it proceeded. Several fights seemed to fizzle out only to flare up again as officials had trouble regaining control.

Coaches and players did not shed much light on it afterwards.

"I didn't see it," UAA coach Dave Shyiak stated flatly. "We were the best team, we won the game. We were the best team on the ice, and I'll take the two points with an asterisk."

Colorado College coach Scott Owens said, "It was at an angle I really didn't see. Frustrations were building during the course of the game. It's an unfortunate situation, because it was such a fiercely competitive weekend."

"I don't know exactly what happened, but emotions get high," UAA acting captain Anderson said. "You stand up for each other. It's a matter of ... showing some pride. That's what we did.

"You've got to stand up for what's on your chest, and that's what happened there at the end."

The brawl eclipsed a valiant comeback by the Seawolves, who fell behind 3-1 in the second period only to rally in the third and force overtime.

"I thought our guys were resilient, showed good composure. We didn't quit, fought back hard, left it all on the line," Shyiak said. "I'm proud of our guys. We won the game."