Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Despite nearly half the team suffering from illness and exhaustion this week, Lathrop head coach Shawn Lundgren was happy to cap off the Mid Alaska Conference season with a win against the one team it lost to earlier this season.

But it wasn’t easy this time, either.

The Malemutes edged the Houston Hawks 3-2 Thursday night at the Big Dipper Ice Arena.

“Tonight was a different game because we gave kids an opportunity to play,” Lundgren said.

Kids like freshman forward Justin Martin didn’t need much playing time to make an impact in the game. Martin snuck the puck in effortlessly from the slot through heavy net traffic, scoring the first goal of the evening just five minutes into the first period.

Despite a win over the Hawks, Martin wasn’t satisfied with the general performance of his teammates.

“I think we came out tonight a little over confident,” he said.

Assisting Martin in the first goal was upperclassman defenseman Sean Fowler. He assisted junior forward Kyle Olson for the second goal of the evening as well.

“We were too laid back tonight and the Hawks’ intensity caught us by surprise,” Fowler said.

The Hawks gave the Malemutes a run for their money on defense with sophomore goalie Will Rauchenstein totaling nearly 20 saves for the game.

Houston’s first goal came late in the second period by freshman forward Micah Ranum with an assist from senior defenseman Emily Hundley.

The final goal for the Hawks was a close call as freshman Rye Humphreys just slid past Lathrop goalie Keenan Wallace and pushed the puck just past the crease and into the goal in the third period.

With eight minutes to go in the game, Lathrop junior forward John Anderson creeped up to the left post and scored the winning goal of the evening. He was assisted by freshman forward Alex Timcheck and freshman forward Justin Martin.

With only five days to prepare for the upcoming state tournament, the Malemutes remain confident that they will continue to exceed expectations provided they can work out a few more kinks in their game.

“If we’re going to play well at state we need to get more creative with the puck and move it as a team,” Martin said.

After Thursday’s win, Lundgren remains confident despite the team’s room for improvement.

“We’ve really played above and beyond everyone’s expectations this season,” Lundgren said. “Tonight’s game we played content and at a minimum to get by, but I still think we have the ability to surprise everyone,” he said.

The state tournament begins Thursday, Feb. 8 and will run through Saturday, Feb. 10 in Wasilla.