A nifty backhand goal off a perfect stretch pass makes for a nice way to win a hockey game.

Carter Batchelder's third period goal put Lake Superior State ahead for good, and the Lakers (2-2-0, 0-0-0 CCHA) earned a 4-2 victory on Saturday over Alaska Anchorage (1-5-0) at the AVIS Alaska Sports Complex. A breakaway specialist, he took a pass from Joey Potter and quickly turned a Seawolves defender around, accelerated into space and slid the puck neatly under the goalie's right pad for the winner.

Rather than following through on his forehand-backhand move and drifting across the face of the goal, Batchelder went for the sneaky move, letting the puck drift early off of his stick before cutting to his right to keep opening the goalie up. It marked his 18th college hockey goal.

"You've got to give Joey Potter credit, he makes a tremendous stretch pass to get it to Batch," said Laker Head Coach Damon Whitten after the game. "I think their defender got a little piece of it, so Batch – first of all – has to corral that puck and settle it down. He does a good job to do that at full speed, walking in all alone. Then a little slippery finish to open him up and tuck it in five-hole. It's a huge game-winning goal. Great game for Batch."

The Lakers saw two gritty goals before Batchelder's smooth finish scored the winner. Cooper Foster bagged his first college hockey goal on a deflection in the first. Parked in front of the goal with a delayed penalty advantage, Foster deflected a shot by Charles Savoie that knotted the game up 1-1. Hunter Ramos banged in a rebound in the second period off of a shot by Teo Besnier, who picked up his first collegiate point for LSSU.

Calem Mangone scored the empty netter just before time expired.

On the other end, a breakaway also proved critical for the Lakers, as goaltender Andrew Oke denied Ethan Neutens' third period shorthanded chance. The Seawolves won a boards battle high in their own zone and released Neutens with an outlet pass that sent him off to the races. He shot high glove side, but Oke plucked the puck out of the air with 13:39 remaining. The score sat at 2-2, and Batchelder untied the game just over a minute later.

"Casper Nässén has a breakaway second period," said Whitten. "Unbelievable release. A great shot. You can see that's an NHL shot. Unfortunately it hits them and stays out instead of going in. Huge play that doesn't go our way. Then you need your goalie to make key saves at key times. That's probably the turning point of that game. We get that breakaway save in the third period, then come down moments later and that's the ballgame there. I thought Andrew Oke had a great game for us, a great 60 minutes."

LSSU returns home for Great Lake State Week, with games against Bowling Green on Friday and Saturday nights at 7:07 PM at the renovated Taffy Abel Arena. Lake Superior State recognizes its 2026 Hall of Fame inductees throughout the weekend and celebrates 60 years of Laker Hockey.

"It's extra special," said Whitten. "It's always a great weekend. You've got the 60^th Anniversary of Laker Hockey with all of these impactful changes and investments in the program. To unveil it all to our alumni, fans, friends, and family feels really special. The other thing is we haven't been in there much. We've had three practices in there. We can't wait to get home to spend time with the team. We've been so limited with ice time and teaching time. The biggest thing from the hockey side is to get home and get to work."

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