The NAU Ice Jacks came into this past weekend undefeated and looking to improve to 12-0 as the UC Irvine Anteaters came to Flagstaff for a two-game series. The Jacks continued their dominant play and stayed perfect on the season, sweeping Irvine.

“Our boys looked good tonight,” said head coach Keith Johanson. “Last night we came out a little flat-footed. It was good to be able to work on stuff tonight that we had been practicing.”

The Ice Jacks came out Friday night and rolled past the Anteaters 17-2.

“You know, maybe when you play a team that is not as good as you, you need to work on things offensively and defensively, and that is what we did,” said team manager AJ Fairchild. “That is why we scored so many goals.”

The first period ended with UC Irvine tying the game at 1-1. From the start of the second and for the rest of the game, the Ice Jacks scored goal after goal, increasing their lead to 8-1 after the second period. 

The third period was more of the same as the Jacks continued to pour it on, scoring nine goals in the final 20 minutes. UC Irvine tallied one more goal in the third period to suffer a 17-2 defeat.

The Anteaters were only able to dress seven players on Friday, giving them a short bench.

Saturday’s match-up was in the books before it started.

UC Irvine was down to five players due to injuries, so the Ice Jacks sent about five players to the Anteaters and a couple of local players played with Irvine for the evening in a scrimmage. 

UC Irvine forfeited the game, so the Ice Jacks secured the win before the scrimmage took place.

“We talked to a couple of their guys, and they said that a couple of players were injured and another had some family problems,” said senior defenseman Michael Borgeson. “They are kind of struggling right now, but from what I have heard they have potential.”

The Jacks wasted little time in scoring, finding the back of the net 12 seconds into the game. The Ice Jacks scored again at the 15:00 mark when senior forward Tyler Holmes put his shot past the goalie. Irvine responded with a goal to cut the lead to 2-1. With 4:52 left in the first period, NAU once again scored. Michael Farnham found the back of the net to extend the lead to 3-1 going into the first intermission. 

“Micheal Farnham and his roommate Jon Ellis have been fantastic for us,” Fairchild said. “Our new guys have been able to progress and gel with the team ahead of schedule.”

The Ice Jacks started the second period scoring at the 18:50 mark. Two minutes later, the Jacks once again scored when freshman forward TJ Lasure put the puck past the goalie.

Irvine responded at 12:48, cutting the lead to 5-2. Freshman forward Jon Ellis scored for NAU to make the game 6-2. Farnham extended the lead to 7-2 after he was assisted by Ellis on a goal. NAU scored two more times with less than 30 seconds remaining in the second period. 

Borgeson scored with 23.8 seconds remaining, and senior forward Michael Pearce added another goal with eight seconds left to give NAU a 9-2 lead going into the final period. 

In the final session Irvine and NAU scored three goals apiece to make the final score 12-5. Ellis and sophomore forward Barett Buckowich scored goals in the period for NAU.

NAU will put their 12-0 record on the line next weekend as UC San Diego comes to Flagstaff for a weekend series. Both games will be at the Jay Lively Arena and will begin at 8:15 p.m.

“We have an end of the season feel to us in midseason, and if we keep improving, heading towards nationals, there is no reason we cannot win the whole thing,” Fairchild said.

Junior forward Dillon Shaffer leads the nation in goals as he has 25 goals playing in 11games. Shaffer did not play in last Saturday’s game.

Shaffer also ranks No. 2 in the nation in points this season. He has 37 total points, 25 of those goals and the other 12 points coming from assists. 

He trails Chris Gale of Cal State Northridge, who has 39 total points.

After this weekend’s match-ups, the Jacks will have  one more home games this semester, a Dec. 5 game against Arizona State.