Anchorage Wolverines drop Robertson Cup semifinal series to Lone Star, ending a successful third season

The Lone Star Brahmas defeated the Anchorage Wolverines 2-0 on Saturday to advance to the North American Hockey League championship.

The Brahmas defeated Anchorage 8-2 on Friday and completed the sweep in the best-of-3 series with their win on Saturday.

For the second straight game, Anchorage struggled to generate offense against Lone Star, which was the top seed in the NAHL semis.

Anchorage was held scoreless until the third period on Friday and Saturday wasn’t able to dent the scoreboard against the Brahmas, who have posted an eye-popping 52-11-4-3 record on the season.

“I thought the guys came out with something to prove,” Wolverines head coach Nick Walters said in a statement. “Our game Friday night wasn’t our “our” game and I think the guys took that to heart. The pace on the ice and energy on the bench was awesome. We had a game plan and the guys executed it. Unfortunately we just couldn’t capitalize.

While the Anchorage defense was under assault on Friday, on Saturday the team held tight. Anchorage goalie Liam Beerman stopped 32 of 34 shots and the Brahmas didn’t dent the scoreboard until the second period.

Despite the semifinal sweep, the season was an undeniable success for Anchorage. The franchise reached the Robertson Cup finals in its first year in existence in 2021-22. Last season, the Wolverines missed the playoffs.

But in 2023-24, the team came back with a vengeance, winning the Midwest Division and reached the Robertson Cup semis. The Wolverines dominated in-state competition, breezing to the Club 49 Cup and finished with a 45-16-2-5 record.

“The sting of the results this weekend are real,” Walters stated. “Hard to put into words. But I told the guys don’t hang your head on this season. Winning is a hard thing to do. Getting to the final four is hard. Winning your division is hard. Winning the division regular season is hard. Winning 39 games,12 games in a row, is hard. We accomplished a lot. This group was special in that locker room, and for that I’m proud of the guys this season.”